


Retribution

by SunnseanicArts



Series: Arrows and Bullets [1]
Category: Boondock Saints (Movies), Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-05
Updated: 2013-11-06
Packaged: 2017-12-10 10:31:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 44,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/785039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunnseanicArts/pseuds/SunnseanicArts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>*needs to be rewritten, ignore for now*</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Apprehension

**Author's Note:**

> **FYI 2016: This fic needs a lot of improvement work.** I really cannot stand it anymore compared to the others, but improving it is going to take lots of time. You should definitely ignore it for now and start with Salvation instead if you want to give the series a go. I didn't want to delete the story here though, I'm just gonna leave it on here the way it is until I got time to improve it. You definitely do not need to read it in order to get into the series because all the important information is in Salvation, too.
> 
>  **old fic info**  
>  This is first part of my Walking Saints series. Right from the off: the only thing that's from the Walking Dead is the walker invasion. At least in this fic. You can read each individual story as a standalone if you like, you don't have to keep going, you don't even have to read this one first. The one that follows this little fic here is called "Salvation" and I wrote it back in February 2012, meaning this was my actual first one. Salvy as well as its sequels (Damnation,Resurrection, Absolution and Contagion) include the other Walking Dead characters as it is based on a Connor-Daryl dynamic, but I felt the need to explain what happened to Murphy, which is why I am writing this story here.
> 
>  **please note:**  
>  \- I am German, so my English+accents= not perfect  
> 

  
  
cover by julie9r

Murphy had expected their life to be way more exciting by now.  
They were out of prison, they were free, so they were supposed to party and enjoy their freedom, right? Oh how much he wanted that to be true. Reality, however, was different. They weren't allowed to go outside, they weren't allowed to call anyone, they were supposed to be invisible. They didn't even know how Smecker, Eunice, Dolly and Duffy had managed to get them out of prison _and_ away from the Hoag, but here they were, hiding in a fairly big apartment in Fenway.  
  
It had been Eunice's idea to bring them there, simply because it was absolutely _impossible_ to get out of the city at the moment. For one because their jailbreak had been all over the news and police were searching _everywhere,_ and also because the city was practically under lockdown.

About a week ago some new sort of virus had caused the officials to put three of south Boston's districts under quarantine, and judging from the news reports it wasn't getting any better. The younger MacManus was worried. Eunice and Smecker had assured them that the building was a safe and good place to hide since the police didn't suspect them of hiding in such a nice neighborhood.  
  
Their apartment was on the top floor and at the very end of the block that covered the entire south side of Park Drive, and when they looked out of the kitchen window they could see Boston's museum of fine arts. They still had no clue who was paying for the whole thing and how, but they were given food, mobile phones and even a laptop to make their stay as comfortable and easy as possible.

Since it was impossible and too dangerous for both Eunice and Smecker to come and visit them, an anonymous stranger had escorted them and explained all the details, how to use their phones and laptop to get in contact with the FBI agents, what to do and what not do to. Which basically meant staying in doors 24/7.

Apart from the whole lockdown Connor felt like he was in heaven.  
He had hated the Hoag, all the people in there, the cells, the fences, everything. Not to forget about the constant fear of losing Murphy in a fight. As soon as they first entered their new temporary home the older MacManus had started to cheer and giggle with excitement. "Real fuckin beds Murph! And look at tha, a real fuckin couch! And holy shit is that a tv and dvd player?"  
  
He had checked the entire dvd collection only to complain that it was shitty and didn't include any good movies, then he had sat down in front of the small table by the window where a laptop was just waiting to be used. "How the fuck do you work those things Murph?"

Murphy couldn't share his enthusiasm though. Of course, he was glad to be out of prison, but there was too much shit going through his head. He wondered whose apartment it was and if the person was trust worthy. He wondered who their neighbors were and if they knew about them. And most of all: he wondered how they were supposed to work when they weren't allowed to go outside.

For him it just felt like they had moved them from one prison to the next. The younger MacManus knew that it was the right thing to do, hide and wait for people to calm down until they could leave the city, but after waiting for more two weeks he felt like the walls were closing in on them and crushing them to death.

It was day number 18 when Duffy came to visit them with groceries, cigarettes and booze. Both MacManus twins cheered happily.  
After getting into three fights on the same day and being utterly sick of each other they appreciated to see a new face and hear an other voice.

"Finally, bout time ye bring us smokes, we're almost out cos Connor won't ever fuckin stop."  
  
Murphy grabbed the plastic bag which was full of cigarette packs and grinned. His twin just glared at him and frowned.

"Fuck you, yer the one smoking like a fuckin chimney" he countered, took the bottle of whiskey from Duffy and turned around to head back to the couch. Murphy opened the kitchen window and sat down right next to his brother. Both twins finally looked at the detective, who looked more tired and disheveled than ever. And there was something about his eyes...he just didn't look good.

"So then Duff, how's things? When can we get the fuck outta here?"

Duffy sat down on the armchair next to Connor and sighed.

"Boys, I gotta be honest with you. I think it'll take a while t'arrange things. Yah seen the news?"

Murphy nodded and scratched his right arm, the one with the cross.  
  
"Aye, what the fuck is going on? Looks a bit hush hush if ye ask me."

Connor snorted.  
  
"Aye, Murph's being a baby about it. Paranoid and all, thinks it's a fuckin conspiracy or some shit."

Murphy growled and shoved him.  
  
"Just look at the fuckin news, there's gotta be some seriously fucked up shit and it's all over the internet, 've seen videos..."

Connor rolled his eyes and sighed. "Here we go...you and yer fuckin videos."

"Says the asshole who's always obsessing over Charles Bronson and yer stupid fuckin rope! 't least 'm interested in real useful shit!"  
  
They both were just about get into another fist fight when Duffy interrupted them.

"Boys!" he shouted and they both looked at him, with hands still buried in each other's t-shirt. The detective growled and massaged his temples.

"I've been having the worst kinda headaches for the past hours and yah screaming ain't helpin. I've been working my ass off for 32 hours straight."

The twins fell quiet and let go of each other. Then Murphy noticed the bandage on his arm.  
  
"What happened ta yer hand?"

Duffy looked up to see where the younger MacManus was pointing, then he looked at the bandage on his left hand.

"I was helping out in Dorchester, riots getting worse and worse there cos of the lockdown. The thing was really spinning out of control and I was fuckin over-worked anyway, but then some stinking asshole ran right at me and bit me. Fucker. Hurts like crazy."

Murphy frowned.  
  
"He _bit_ ye?"

Connor snorted.  
  
"There you go, fuckin conspiracy. I bet someone's trying to get our dear Duffy outta his office fer stealing too many pencils."

"Fuck ye Connor!" Murphy spat and glared at his twin.

Duffy sighed and leaned back. He looked very pale in the dim light and something about him made Murphy feel uncomfortable.

"Maybe you should rest fer a bit, ye look like shite."  
  
Connor , who finally seemed to get that this whole thing wasn't a joke, suggest and got up.

"You want me to get you a glass af water? Beer? Whiskey?"

Duffy shook his head and put a hand on his forehead.

"Nah, I don't think so. You're right. I just need a break. Sleep a couple of hours. You boys ok, need anything else?" he asked and got up slowly.  
  
When Murphy saw how weak he was on his knees, he rushed to help his friend. The older MacManus frowned.

"No, we're fine, but how about ye? Really though, ye don't look good."

Duffy shook his head and headed for the door.  
  
"'s all right boys. Just gotta lie low. You need anything you call the number..yah know which one."

The twins went after him and looked at each other. Murphy raised an eyebrow and Connor nodded.

"Maybe ye should stay here fer the night? Murph'n I can sleep on the couch if ye want."

The detective just waved it off and opened the door.

"Nah boys, we can't risk that. Now..."  
  
He turned around and smiled at them. Then he put a hand on Connor's shoulder and patted it.

"'t was nice seeing yah again."  
  
Both twins nodded but looked worried.

"Aye." they said quietly and frowned when the expression on Duffy's face changed.

"Don't put your guns away boys. I'm telling you Connor, Murphy might be right about the whole thing. Haven't heard a word from Eunice and Smecker yet, but I let 'em know about the South. Headquarters ain't telling us anything, no one seems t'know what's going on. I'll let yah know when I find out more."

The three men just looked at each other for a moment, then Duffy smiled again and saluted them.

"Boys."

"Duff."

The detective turned around and went down the stairs. Before Murphy closed the door behind them he could hear Duffy cough.

"'m telling ye, there's something wrong with 'im. Wrong with the whole riot shite."

Connor just looked at his twin, hands on hips and chewing on his bottom lip.  
Much to Murphy's surprise his older half wouldn't tease him again, he just turned around and went back to the living room.

* * *

Connor was tossing and turning in his bed. For the past couple of nights he had dreamt the most horrible things, and this night wasn't different. He dreamed that the fens in front of their apartment building were filled with blood. He dream of children crying and thousands of people running and screaming. He saw the skyline of Boston disappearing behind a big cloud of smoke and fire. And then he had the _other_ dream. The dream that was slowly driving him insane.  
  
Two months ago he had first dreamt about Murphy dying. Well, that was a lie. He had dreamt about that more than once in his life, since this was his greatest fear. But no. This was a different sort of dream. Because he was having it almost every. single. night. The same things. The same room. The same setting. The same words. He dreamt that Murphy was trying to kill him.  
  
The dream ended with _him_ killing his younger brother. It was always the same. Murphy coming, Murphy running, Murphy growling and trying to wrap his hands around his neck and squeeze and choke. Connor dreamt about stumbling and walking backwards, asking, _begging_ him to stop. But Murphy wouldn't listen.  
  
 _Please stop. Why would you do this? Murphy! BANG._  
A clean headshot, smoke from his gun, his younger half lying dead on the floor.  
BANG. gushes of blood, and a loud gasp.

Connor startled awake and screamed. It took him a while to calm down again. His heart was racing, and he was sweating heavily. His boxers were sticking to his legs and behind, and for a moment he thought he was going to die from a heart attack. The older MacManus turned his head to search the room for his twin, but the spot next to him was empty. Connor gulped and rubbed his eyes tiredly.  
  
 _Just a dream. Just a fuckin dream._

He remembered a wave of blood rushing towards him, his twin's cold dead eyes and him lying on the floor. Blood dropping from his hands. The older MacManus sighed, buried his face in his hands and shook his head. Now he remembered where the _fuck_ he had gotten these images from. He and Murphy had been watching _the Shining_ before going to bed.

It wasn't like him to be scared because of a stupid movie, and when he got up he reminded himself that he wasn't scared because of the movie, but because of the idea of Murphy dying. Even worse. Him _killing_ Murphy.

He left the room and entered the bathroom to relieve himself and wash his face.  
When he looked in the mirror he saw that he looked _terrible._

_Af course ye look terrible, what do ye think you would look like after you killed yer brother, like a fuckin princess?_

He shook his head and decided that it was time to get a drink.  
The Irishman switched the light off and entered the living room only to get another heart attack.  
Murphy was standing there by the window, with a cigarette in his hand and watching something outside with a frown.

"Are ye fuckin crazy, I almost shat my pants because af you creep standing there " Connor complained, but Murphy ignored him.  
  
The older MacManus grabbed the bottle of whiskey that was standing on the table and approached his twin.

"The fuck are you looking at?" he asked and looked over his twin's shoulder.

He saw a woman in her nightie staggering down the road that let to the tennis field. Connor snorted.

"My god's she drunk."

Murphy shook his head.  
  
"Been watching her fer almost half an hour now. That ain't drunk."

Connor started laughing.  
  
"You've been watching her fer 30 minutes? You little pervert you."

Murphy turned his head and glared at his brother who wouldn't stop giggling. He was trying to hold it back but had no luck.  
His younger half looked at the staggering woman again who stumbled after a cat that was hastily crossing the street.  
They could hear her growling, which made Connor frown.

"What the fuck?"

"She came down the park, then I kinda lost her, I was just takin a piss and when I returned she was just fuckin standing there, staring at nothin."  
Murphy murmured and shifted from one foot to the other. Connor bit his lip and shrugged.

"Maybe she's a crack whore or some shit like tha. See more and more af that lot these days."

A loud bang somewhere down the road startled them and made the woman turn around. They could hear sirens all over the city.

"Weird shit man." Connor murmured and turned around again to head for the kitchen. Murphy frowned.

"Shouldn' we...like, go down and help her?"

Connor shook his head.  
  
"Ye know we can't go outside."

"Then maybe we should call te police or something?" Murphy suggested and looked at the staggering woman again.  
  
Connor shook his head once more and snorted.

"Aye Murph, let's call the police and tell them "oh and by the way, heard yer lookin fer us, wanna take us with you, now that yer on it?"

The dark haired twin glared at his brother and growled.  
  
"Why do you have ta be such a fuckin dick these days?"

Connor turned around and looked at him.  
  
"What?"

"Fer weeks you've been treating me like shit, making fun af me like I'm yer stupid girlfriend or some crap."

The older snorted and frowned.  
  
"'m just makin fun af you, that's what brothers do Murph."

He sat down on the couch and took a sip of his whiskey.

"This ain't fun anymore Connor. 'm _tellin_ ye there's something fuckin wrong here."

The blonde just looked at his younger half for a while and for the first time he realized how much older Murphy looked. For some reason, whenever he thought about his brother he had that certain image of him in his head, so young and childish. Perhaps the whole pretending and acting like he was the older one was getting to his head. His brother was right. He wasn't a child anymore. _They_ weren't children anymore. And judging by all the crap that had happened to them with almost everyone either dying or falling to shit because of them, it sure as hell wasn't fun anymore.

"Did ye have any weird dreams?" Connor asked quietly and Murphy frowned.

"What?"

His older half shrugged and scratched his chin.  
  
"I was just assuming that, since we were havin the same dream with god and Roc..that maybe you did dream about some weird shit, too? Again?"

Murphy came closer and folded his arms.  
  
"Blood?" he asked quietly and Connor nodded.

"Blood, fire, screams, chaos, me killing ye..."

The younger raised an eyebrow.  
  
"You killing me?"

Connor nodded and looked away.  
  
"Aye. Just woke up because of it again" he admitted and Murphy sighed.

"'s all right Conn. 'm here."

The older looked up and smiled after a moment of just looking at his brother.  
  
"Aye."

"Ain't going anywhere. You'll have to kill me first" Murphy went on and smirked. Connor frowned.

"Nat funny."

The younger Irishman turned around to look out of the window again.

"Looks like the chick's gone."

"What?" Connor asked and got up. He and his brother searched the street for a bit, but the mysterious woman was gone.


	2. Jerry's

"'m so fuckin hungry Con."

The last time someone had brought them food had been over a week ago. Connor was sitting in front of their laptop, still trying to figure it out because he didn't have a clue how those things worked, and the fact that Murphy was reminding him of the obvious every freaking day didn't exactly help either. He grabbed their mobile phone, which was lying next to his hand on the table, and looked at it. Still no signal. Still no message, still no missed calls.

"I know, but none af those fuckers are answering, and I can't get a fuckin signal since yesterday morning."

Murphy was pacing up and down the room, with a cigarette in his mouth and looking out of the window every once in a while.

"They're still out there. Why the fuck isn't the police coming? Or the ambulance? We gotta go out there Conn.  
Get food, fuckin help people, we just gotta do _something_."

"They" were about seven wounded people that were staggering up and down Park Drive. Some of them had bite wounds all over their bodies, others had broken feet that they were using nevertheless, dragging them after them and making the most horrible noises. The older MacManus turned around and glared at his brother.

"I fuckin know that we gotta do something! The fuck ye think 'm doing here, 'm trying to see if someone on the internet knows something!"

"We ain't any use if we're just sitting here on our asses waiting fer some shit to happen, or someone to come.  
We gotta go _out there_ and do something! That's what we do! Fucking sort shit out!"

Connor got up and slammed the laptop shut. The connection had died once again.

"Don't ye hear the fuckin sirens everywhere Murph? We just gotta cross the road and we're running inta a cop or some shit.  
Do you wanna end up back in prison? We ain't of any use if we sit on our asses in there! Same fuckin thing!"

Murphy shoved him.

"Are you such a fuckin retard? Open yer eyes Conn, we're the least of their problems right now!"

Connor growled and walked past his brother to look out of the window. He saw smoke coming from the city center, and there were a couple of injured people that wandering around aimlessly on this side of the street as well. There were other people, too. People that didn't look injured or so fucking psychotic, and they were running around with small plastic bags or bigger bags in their arms and quickly passed the others without helping them. The sick ones reached out for them and tried to go after them, but they stood no chance once the others started running.

Connor ruffled his hair and bit his lower lip nervously, then he walked to the other side of the room to look out of the window that faced Jersey street, where a small shop was located on the other side. There weren't that many psychos running around, so they actually stood a chance. He turned around to look at his twin, who looked pissed and a bit nervous. For a moment they just looked at each other, then Connor looked at all the empty bottles and cans of food and decided that his brother was right. He sighed and nodded.

"Ok, here's the plan. We go down to Jerry's, grab a few things and get the fuck back up here. We ask one af those fuckers if they need our help and see how they react, but as soon as shit hits the van we go right back up here. Grab yer knife just in case, I get the money."

He left the living room to get his coat, wallet, money and knife, then put his boots on and looked out of the window once more. He could see that all the wounded people outside were walking away, heading somewhere down the road with wide eyes. The most terrible thing about it all was the noise they were making, growling and snarling like animals. A virus. He had read about it on the internet somewhere. A virus that they transmitted through bites, which explained all their wounds.  
  
He still didn't know what to believe, whether this was right or not, all he knew was that it was fucking creepy and he sure as hell didn't want to get bit by filthy animalistic psychos. He tried not to think about Duffy. He had been bitten after all. _No, he's okay. There's no way he's..._ He didn't want to finish the thought.

Murphy was waiting for him in the hallway and when Connor placed a hand on the door handle he was suddenly well aware that this was different now. For the past couple of days they had felt like they were living in some sort of bubble, nonexistent in this crazy new world. Invisible, just like they had been told. Stepping out of that apartment now made things real again.

"Ready?" he asked quietly and looked at Murphy who nodded.  
  
He then opened the door with a determined push and stepped outside.

* * *

It was worse than they had thought. Now that they were outside they could hear a strange humming, groaning and murmuring coming from all over the streets surrounding them, underlined by the never-ending sound of sirens. Connor and Murphy started running. First of all because they didn't want to be seen, and second of all because they saw a woman that was lying a couple of meters down the road. Right in front of the shop.

"Fuck Conn, look at her legs!" Murphy said and pointed at her.

Her legs were crushed and when they came closer they saw the skid marks.

"Looks like someone run her over" the older MacManus murmured and knelt down next to her.  
  
He put a hand on her shoulder and Murphy knelt down as well.

" Jesus, what the fuck is wrong with people? Can ye hear me? We're hear to help you! Murph, you got a mobile with ye?"

"You know it's fuckin dead!"

The younger shrieked in surprise when the woman grabbed him by his leg and looked up.  
She was growling and snarling, and when she lifted her head Murphy saw that her nose and upper lip were missing.

"Holy shit!" he yelled and he tried to get away from her. He stumbled and fall back down on his ass.  
  
The woman grabbed his foot and tried to bite him, so Murphy started kicking and yelling at her.

"Get her off me! Bitch, get yer fuckin mits off me!"

"Let 'im go! Don't let her bite ye!" Connor yelled and grabbed the woman by her shoulders to get her away from his twin.

"Connor! Get the fuckin knife!"

"I can't just stab the woman!"

After a couple of minutes of wrestling with the wounded person the older MacManus finally managed to get her off Murphy and shoved her away. His twin brother crawled away from her and grabbed his leg to check on it. A second later Connor was on him and yanked his trouser leg up.

"Did she bite ye?"

"What the _fuck_ was that?"

"Murph, did she fuckin bite you?" Connor asked once more and looked at his twin in horror.  
  
Murphy shook his head and looked at the woman who was lying on the road.

"No, I don't think she did, 'm clean. Conn, what the fuck was that?"

The blonde offered him a hand and helped him up, then they looked at the woman who was lying to their feet. She suddenly started moving and growling again, and when she looked at them the twins saw that her eyes were different as well. She tried to grab them by their feet, but the brothers backed off to stay out of her reach.

"What's wrong with her face?" Murphy asked and Connor just looked at the woman.

"Can ye understand us? We're just trying to fuckin help you, woman!" the older tried to reason with her but she showed no reaction.  
  
She just kept crawling and growling.

"I don't think she can understand us Conn. Just look at her face man."

Suddenly the woman stopped and shifted all her weight on her arms. It looked like she was trying to get up, and when she lifted her upper body up the twins saw that some of her inner organs were sticking out of a hole in her belly.

"Oh my fuckin god!" Murphy exclaimed and started to retch, but since they hadn't eaten anything in two days, nothing would come out.  
  
Connor pulled a face and covered his mouth with the back of his hand and shook his head.  
  
"That is disgusting."

The woman was unable to get up because of her crushed legs, but somehow it looked like she didn't care about the pain. Neither did it look like she actually understood what was happening. Connor remembered all the things he had been reading on the internet the last couple of days: DEAD MEN WALKING, THE END IS NEAR, VIRUS, INFECTION, BITES, IMPOSSIBLE, THE WRATH OF GOD, JUDGEMENT DAY. Dead men walking. He swallowed hard. He knew it was impossible for that woman to be alive. He knew what it _meant_. Everything was _true_.

"Let's go" he said and started walking.  
  
Murphy just stood there and watched the woman, then he looked at his brother's back.

"We can't just fuckin leave her! There's gotta be something we can do fer her!"

Connor just kept walking. He did not want to cope with this, did not want to think about it. What were they supposed to do anyway? They didn't have any medical supplies with them, their phones weren't working, that woman was trying to fucking _bite_ them, her guts were hanging out of her freaking body, they were freaking hungry, everything was going to shit. He could see more of _them_ down the street, and it looked like Murphy's yelling was getting them interested in them, because they turned around and staggered in their direction.

"We gotta get something ta eat and get the fuck back up there" Connor said and glared at his twin.

Murphy looked at the woman, then he saw the group down the street, then he looked back at his brother again. Never in his life had he felt so helpless, so confused. They were _the Saints_ , they were tough fuckers, so how come he didn't feel so tough right now?  
 _Because this is something ye've never seen before. This shit is different.  
  
_ They knew that there was something wrong here. Something big. Something global. And for the first time in their lives they felt helpless because this was _too_ big. The younger twin rushed after his brother, and together they entered the battered shop.

* * *

There was glass everywhere. Two of the shop windows had been destroyed, and they could see blood on the ground. There was no cashier by the checkout and when they entered the small shop they couldn't see any customers either. The whole building was _empty_.

"The fuck is everyone?" Connor asked and grabbed a couple of cigarette packs.  
  
Murphy was busy getting food from the other side.

"Maybe they were evacuating people and we missed the announcement?" the younger twin suggested, but Connor shook his head with a snort.

"We were watching tv every fuckin day. Fer hours. And we've been reading shit on the internet.  
Believe me, if they decided to evacuate the city, we'd know."

He headed for the small beverage section. The blonde Irishman just looked at the bottles and cans for a while, considering what they should take, then he sighed and grabbed a couple of water bottles. His instincts told him to go back to basics somehow. Because if shit was really spiralling out of control and Boston's infrastructure really stopped working, then running out of booze would be the least of their problems.  
  
He was just about to head back when he saw a bottle of whiskey standing there, and after chewing on his lower lip and looking outside he decided that one small bottle wouldn't do them any bad either. He found Murphy with three bags of chips and two pizzas in his hand and snorted.

"As much as I adore yer taste, gotta think ahead this time, Murph." the blonde said and pointed at the canned food section.  
  
His younger half raised an eyebrow.  
  
"What?"

Connor grabbed a couple of canned beans and pasta and nodded.

"Aye, something's telling me that we gotta stock up fer a bit til shit gets sorted out. Call it a hunch.  
Besides, they're doing that in all them disaster movies all the time."

Murphy snorted.  
  
"Is that one af yer stupid plans again?"

"Ye just saw what it's like out here Murph" the older murmured and filled another bag with food and water bottles.  
  
His twin frowned.

"Connor we can't afford that much shit."

"I brought all the money we have Murph. They gave us some. Fer emergencies. Looks like that's an emergency, man.  
You said so yerself, we're fuckin hungry."

Murphy just watched him for a moment. "This isn't a fuckin movie" he murmured but still helped his brother.

* * *

Connor didn't want to spent too much time outside, so they got all the stuff they needed as quickly as they could. Quite some stuff had been taken already, and they saw that most of the electronics were gone. They checked the small storeroom to see if the shop owner or anyone was there, but they were all alone.

"The fuck should we do? We can't just take that stuff, that'd be stealing" Murphy said once they were done and standing by the checkout.  
  
Connor turned around to search the shop again, but they were all by themselves. He shrugged, got his wallet out and put two 20$ notes on the counter.

"We paid fer it."

Murphy snorted.  
  
"Next asshole that comes in here fuckin steals it and it's gone."

His brother nodded.

"Aye, but our conscience is clear cos _we_ payed fer it" he said with a smirk and widened his eyes when he saw someone passing the shop.  
  
He grabbed his twin by his shoulders and pulled him down with him.

"Get down!" he whispered and hid behind the counter.

They watched the figure walk by, and it didn't take them long to realize that it was another one of _them_. They kept quiet until it looked like he was gone, and when Connor looked at Murphy he saw that his twin was fiddling about with something next to the counter.

"The fuck are ye doing?" Connor whispered and his twin started grinning.

"Found this" he said and showed the blonde a machete.  
  
It was bloodstained but apart from that it looked intact and in good shape.

Connor raised an eyebrow.  
  
"'n what are ye planning on doing with that? Go ninja on them? We can't just fuckin kill people here!"

Murphy raised an eyebrow as well. "The fuck? As if we never killed people before.."

"We killed bad people, those people aren't bad, they're fuckin sick or some shit like that."

"Still, can't do us any harm, can it?"

The older twin rolled his eyes and turned around again to look outside.

"Alright. Get yer bigass rambo knife. Let's move."


	3. Knock Knock

Three days after "they" had arrived, communication broke down completely.  
  
Their phones had long since stopped working, pretty much since the day they had left their apartment for the first time to get food. Television was up next. They could see them stop working, channel by channel until there was nothing but tv snow. The last reports that had been shown had informed them about outbreaks in Europe. Paris, London, Berlin, Moscow. It was chaos.   
  
There hadn't been a single official statement from the government. They had no clue _what_ it was and now that their phones, tv and internet had stopped working they were left in the dark. Some had called it the end of days, others a simple infection like the flu or worse, the black death of modern age.

There had been talk about the French working on a cure, but then everything was gone. No information, no explanation, no nothing.  
The last news channel had just stopped working when Connor had enough. He kicked the table and got up.   
Murphy was still sitting on the couch and chewed on his fingernails.

"Ye cannot tell me that there's no fucking cure, there's gotta be a way" Connor growled and started walking up and down the room.  
  
There weren't so many of _them_ out there anymore, so how could they be talking about things getting worse?

"Well you saw the pictures, it's fucking chaos. Everywhere. Maybe we should..I dunno, go somewhere. There's gotta be some place we can go."

"Aye af course Murphy, we're wanted murderers, everyone knows our fucking faces here in Boston, but 'm sure they're gonna welcome us with open arms and offer us a fuckin hot bean soup."

"Fuck ye" the younger twin just murmured because he was getting tired of his brother's dickish behaviour.  
  
He just watched him roam through their apartment for a bit, and when he had enough of that he sighed and grabbed a cigarette.

"Yer the one always fuckin planning things, so shoot. How do we get outta here Conn."

The blonde glared at him.  
  
"Why do I have ta make all the plans all te time? Yer just waiting t'complain about every fucking thing 'm sayin."

Murphy growled.

"Oh fuck ye, my plan was ta go some place safe, a fuckin refugee camp or some shit like that, they were talking about that, with military and shit. Yer not doing anything else but complain about me plans as well!"

"Because you don't get that the police don't care about us doin the right thing, they just think we're fucking murderers out there!  
They're nat like Smecker or Eunice or Dolly or Duffy!"

Their fight was interrupted when they heard someone knocking on their door. The knocking got louder and faster with every second they waited.  
Both twins looked at each other, then Connor approached the door to peek through the spyhole.

"It's Eunice!" he shouted and opened the door.  
  
The detective stormed in and kicked the door shut behind her.  
When she saw Connor she wrapped her arms around him and sighed.

"Oh my god, I'm so glad to see you boys" she said and held the older twin tight.  
  
Connor frowned, but responded to the hug.

"Nice seeing ye too, Eunice, what the fuck's goin on?"

She let go of him and looked at him, then she saw how Murphy was sitting on the couch and eyed them curiously.  
The blonde woman sighed and shook her head.

"I need to sit down."

* * *

It took Eunice a while to calm down. She was sitting on the couch with Connor's whiskey bottle in her hands and whenever she guided it to her mouth the twins could see that she was shaking. Her short black hair was a complete mess and there was blood on her clothes.

"We need to get out of here boys. Fast. They're coming. They're everywhere."

Connor frowned.  
  
"Who is?"

"The walkers. There was a barricade blocking off Dorchester and it broke. There's no stopping them."

The twins looked at each other, then Murphy turned his head to look at Eunice again.

"Walkers?"

The detective raised her head and looked at the two Irishmen.  
When she saw that they honestly didn't know what she was talking about she started laughing.

"Oh boys, you're so clueless."

The older folded his arms and snorted.

"Well, you didn't tell us shit, I was trying ta call ye, but ever since Duffy came here two weeks ago we didn't hear a fuckin thing from y'all and.."

"Duffy is dead" Eunice interrupted him and the twins glared at her.

"What?"

"Turned. He's one of them now. "

Murphy covered his mouth with his hand, Connor shook his head and snorted.

"No fucking way, stop fuckin with us Eunice."

"I'm not _fucking_ with you!" she yelled and buried her face in her hands.

"Duffy, Dolly, even Paul. He protected me from them, gave me time to make it out of there. I saw them.."   
  
She took a deep breath and shook her head. Paul Smecker had always been more than just a colleague to her.  
He had been like a father, her guardian after her suspension.

"Everyone is gone. It's just me. I'm all that's left."

"No" Murphy said and shook his head.  
  
Then he kicked the table and started walking up and down the room.

"No" he said again and Connor looked at him.

"Murph.."

"I fuckin told ye Connor! We should've left weeks ago! We could've helped them instead af sitting here on our asses doin fuckin nothing!" he snapped and shoved his twin hard. Connor growled and shoved him back.

"Fuck ye, I was just doing what we were fuckin told! Stay indoors, wait fer official instructions, wait fer it to calm down!"

"Does this look like fuckin calming down ta ye, you fuckin retard?"

"Boys!" Eunice interrupted them and both brothers looked at her.

"We've got to leave. Grab everything you can, arm yourself, get food, we need to get to Black Falcon Cruise Terminal."

"What?"

"Why, ye wanna go on a holiday now?"

The detective got up and shook her head.  
Then she started searching their apartment for useful stuff.

"Last time I heard something from above they said something about boats leaving town. There's no way getting out of the city, there's barricades and walkers everywhere. I heard something about a military camp at Fort Point somewhere."

"What the fuck are walkers?" Connor asked and frowned.   
  
Murphy started getting their things together as well. Eunice looked at the blonde twin and sighed.

"Dead people, except they're not dead."

"That's fuckin crazy. Impossible. I mean read about it all over the internet, but it's the fuckin internet. 's gotta be bullshit."

"I thought the same, until I shot a man four times and he just kept coming."

Connor remembered the woman on the street, her guts hanging out, all the blood outside. He swallowed hard.

"At first we thought they were just sick. Until they bit others and those others died and became them and bit others and turned them. It wouldn't stop. Whatever it is, they just keep coming. They keep walking, that's why we call them walkers. How much ammo have you got Murphy?" she asked the younger twin when she saw him getting their guns. He looked up and shrugged.

"Not much. We were waiting fer you lot to give us more as soon as...well doesn't fuckin matter anymore now, does it?"

"Take everything you've got. You're gonna need it."

Connor still wouldn't move.

"We can't just leave this place. We've got food here, water, maybe we should just wait it out? Besides, if those fuckers are really that dangerous and...bite-y, then why the fuck should we make our way _through_ this city? Where's the fuckin logic in that?"

"The city center, including South Boston, is under a complete lockdown. If I'm right and barricades are holding up, then there shouldn't be any walkers there."

Eunice threw a bag at him to animate him to help them with the packing but he just snorted.

"Aye, since when does that ever work. That's the first line ye hear in the movies and five minutes later shit goes down with a big fat 'told you so!'."

Murphy growled.

"Will yah fuckin shut it and help us? It was my plan as well, to go some place safe, now Eunice's sayin the same, so it's gotta be the right thing to do.  
Just think about yer fuckin plans and how many times they almost got us killed, got Rocco killed?"

This made his brother snap.

"Don't ye fuckin dare talking about Roc here!"

Another gentle knock on the door interrupted them and Connor growled.

"Oh who the fuck is it this time."

Eunice stared at them and swallowed.

"I didn't bring anyone here with me."

_Knock. knock. knock._

The twins looked at each other and kept quiet.

_Knock. knock. knock._

They just listened to the scratching and knocking on their door. Then they heard groans.

"It's one of them" Murphy whispered and Connor hushed him.

He made his way to the door and peaked through the spyhole.   
He gasped when bloody dead grey eyes were looking right back at him.

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

"Shit" the Irishman whispered and looked at Eunice and Murphy who were standing in the hallway.

"What do we do? That's the only way out!"

He looked through the spyhole again.

"I think it's Mrs Tatcher from next door...Aye, her door's open. Fuck."

"There's only one way to kill them" Eunice whispered and Connor looked at her.

"I can't just kill Mrs Tatcher!"

"This isn't Mrs fuckin Tatcher anymore, ye retard!" Murphy whispered back and Eunice nodded.

"It's just a walking corpse, Mrs Tatcher died a long time ago, Connor."

"Well then shoot, how do ye kill Mrs Ex-Tatcher? Cos she just keeps coming and scratching on tha door like a fuckin creep!"

"You've got to destroy the brain."

Murphy turned around to get their guns.  
He was just about to give one to Connor when Eunice placed a hand on his chest and shook her head.

"Too much noise. It would attract even more of them."

"Then how the fuck are we sapposed ta kill her?" Connor whisper-shouted and Eunice looked at him.  
Murphy ran off again.

"Bash her brains in."

The Irishman widened his eyes.  
  
"What? There's no way 'm bashing a woman's brain in!"

"Here, take that" Murphy said and handed his brother the machete they had found in the shop.   
  
Connor raised an eyebrow. So did his twin and poked him with the machete.

"Fucking take it Connor. Ye need an invitation? Don't be such a fuckin princess! Or let me do it."

The older twin grabbed the machete and shook his head.

"No fuckin way."

He took a deep breath and peaked through the spyhole. Mrs Walker-Tatcher was still standing in front of their door and tried to get in. She just kept scratching and knocking. The blonde twin animated his brother and Eunice with his hand to back off, then he positioned himself in front of the door and held the machete tight in his right hand, with his left hand placed on the door handle.

"Three..two..one..."

With a growl he opened the door and Mrs Tatcher stumbled forward, snapping at him and growling like an animal. Before Connor could even process what was happening he struck her down with one brutal blow to her head. The dead woman let out a final gasp, then she went limb and fell to her knees. With the machete still stuck her head she remained in that position and stared at the older twin with dead eyes. Connor gasped in surprise and disgust and tried to get his weapon out of her skull, which was harder than he thought. He had never killed a man like this before, never killed a _woman._

He finally managed to pull the machete out and a disgusting smelling gush of blood rained down on his shirt.  
The thing that had used to be Mrs Tatcher fell down to the floor and drained their carpet with blood.

"Fuck" Connor murmured and wiped the blood of his hands.  
  
Then he turned around and swallowed hard.

"Fuck."

He stared at the blood on Murphy's machete and realized that he was shaking.

"Fuck."

The blonde raised his head and looked at his twin in horror, then he turned around and looked at Mrs Tatcher's body.

* * *

He stepped out of their apartment, grabbed her by her legs and pulled her out until she was lying in front of their door. Once he had made sure that she was dead and _stayed_ dead he went over to her apartment to check for any other unwanted guests. All he could see was blood everywhere and guts lying on the floor, something that looked like it had used to be a cat. Murphy entered her apartment after a couple of minutes to check on his brother, but Connor didn't want to talk. Didn't want to talk or think about anything.

"'t wasn't her anymore." Murphy said quietly and leaned against the door frame.

Connor didn't say anything and checked her kitchen for food and other useful things.  
He stopped when he saw the pictures that were pinned to her fridge.

There she was, Mrs Tatcher, arms wrapped around a beautiful blonde woman who looked like she was her daughter.  
A picture of a cat was right next to it. They all looked so... _clean_. So happy.

"Maybe yer right" Connor said quietly and Murphy shifted.

"Af course. You heard Eunice. And you saw her. She would've killed ye, eaten you or god knows what kinda shit those things do."

"I wasn't talking about that. I was talking about te plan. Maybe we should leave. Maybe it isn't safe. Maybe ye should do the planning fer once."

He turned around and looked at his twin. He approached him and handed him the machete.

"Here, take that. It's yers after all."

His younger half raised an eyebrow.

"What about ye?"

Connor smirked. He didn't want his brother to see how he felt right now.  
And maybe the pretending made it easier to come to terms with the whole thing.

"Still got my rope, aye? Besides, yer the fuckin Rambo Wannabe, not me."

He nudged his brother and animated him to leave Mrs' Tatcher's apartment.  
When they stepped out of the kitchen the older threw one final look over his shoulder and looked at the pictures.   
The pictures of the smiling happy woman he had just killed.


	4. Quarantine

"Our best bet t'get to the terminal's gotta be Mass Pike" Connor declared and pointed at the map they had found in Mrs Tatcher's apartment.  
He moved his finger all the way over Massachusetts Turnpike, which cut its way through Boston, heading East.

Murphy nodded and looked at Eunice.   
  
"Aye, you got a car? How did ye get here?"

Eunice shook her head.   
  
"It broke down and I couldn't get through the barricades anyway."

She looked at the map and chewed on her bottom lip.

"This won't work boys."

Connor raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Why? 's a good plan!"

Eunice pointed at the interstate and shook her head.

"You've got to assume that everyone is trying that. There's got to be chaos. Cars and traffic jams everywhere.  
All major roads will be gridlocked."

She pointed at the southern area.

"We should make our way through South End, stay off the main roads."

Both twins looked at the map but Connor didn't look too pleased.

"Aye but that's right through the fuckin city. We gotta assume that there will be loads af..walkers and shit.   
Mass Pike's got fences and walls blocking it off fram the rest of the city, so there shouldn't be too many af those fuckers there."

Murphy, who was biting his nails again, nodded and looked at Eunice.

"Aye, I think Connor's right."

Eunice pointed at the section where the Prudential Center was located.

"Look, there's a whole section underground, Connor. Meaning walls to our left and right and only two exists and we would be dependentvon electricity down there, and that could be cut off any minute now. Besides, we've got no idea how many walkers are down there, how bad it really is. I say our best bet is South End."

The blonde twin pointed at Charles River Basin.

"Well what about te river? Maybe we can find a boat there somewhere, make our way to the terminal on a boat."

"Ye know how to drive a fucking boat, smartass?" Murphy asked and frowned.   
  
Connor glared at him.

"Fuck ye! Can't be that hard, can it?"

Eunice shook her head.

"That would be a long way round. Why make our way all around the city center when there's a direct route? We shouldn't waste any time.  
God knows how long they're waiting for people to come there before they leave. I don't want to risk anything."

The dark haired twin looked at the detective for a while, then he nodded and turned his head to look at his brother.

"Well, I'm in."

Connor glared at his twin and growled.

"All right. Still, fuckin stupid idea."

* * *

With their duffel bags filled with food, water, flashlights, batteries, a few clothes, guns and ammo the twins and Eunice left their safe harbor and closed the door shut behind them. Mrs Tatcher's body was still lying on the floor in front of their apartment, and when Connor saw her again he felt guilty for just leaving her like that. Eunice and Murphy were on their way down when he knelt down next to her body.

"Wait" he demanded and his companions froze.

Connor folded Mrs Tatcher's arms over her chest and crossed himself, then he closed his eyes and murmured a prayer. He wasn't surprised when Murphy came back and joined him. When they were done saying their prayer the blonde twin gave his brother one of the pennies he carried in his trouser pockets and together they placed them on her eyes. Eunice just stood there and watched. Connor sighed and Murphy patted his shoulder.

"Come on. Let's go" he murmured and got up.   
  
Connor followed him after a moment.  
For the first time saying the prayer and giving her pennies didn't make him feel any better.

* * *

There weren't many walkers out there on Park Drive. The trio decided to make their way to Agassiz Road, which was the nearest road that crossed the Back Bay Fens. Pretty soon Connor had grabbed Murphy's machete again and walked ahead, simply because he didn't want to talk right now and needed to be in charge. Murphy was busy lighting a cigarette when Eunice moved closer to him.

"You two seem a bit cranky with each other" she noticed and the black haired twin snorted.

"Aye."

"What happened, I thought you were inseparable."

Murphy looked at his twin's back and sighed.

"Aye, we still are..he's just..a massive dick sometimes."

He turned his head to check their backs.   
He could see two walkers following them but they were slow and still close to the tennis field.

"Can't blame him though, with all this shit happening. He just hates when he's nat in charge."

"You seem to be handling it pretty well" Eunice murmured and looked ahead.  
  
Murphy looked at her and blew out some smoke.

"Well I think the difference between me'n him is that I _knew_ shit was fucked up. Long before him. And after all the shit I've seen and read, I don't have a hard time accepting that shit's changed and that we have ta fuckin stop thinking and do something about it."

He sighed and looked at Connor again.

"He's just stressed. That's all. Been havin nightmares and shit fer the past couple af weeks. But don't worry, we got yer back."

Eunice looked at him.

"I'm glad you're still alive, Murphy. The things I've seen.."   
  
She shook her head.

"Years of training and I still wasn't prepared for _that_."

"Well fuck me" they heard Connor say and looked at him.  
  
They were standing in front of Agassiz Road that led to South End, only that there was a massive fence blocking their way. There were loads of instruction plates telling them what to do and what not to do. Words like **QUARANTINE, HOT ZONE, INFECTION** and **DO NOT ENTER** could be read everywhere. Murphy tried shaking the fence, but it wouldn't move an inch.

"Maybe we have t'try and climb over it, or get down from te bridge and try it down there" he suggested and Connor growled.

"'s fuckin water down there, smartass, why do ye think they built this fuckin bridge. Besides, good luck crossing barbed wire."

"Fuck ye, you got a better idea?"

Eunice started shaking the fence as well. Connor hushed his brother and started reading.

"They're writing something about infection free zones here, that they blocked off the entire city center, using Massachusetts Ave as border."  
  
He approached his brother and opened his bag to search for their map. Eunice came to join them and grabbed it.  
She pointed at the street and nodded.

"We've just got to head further north. Maybe you were right about the interstate after all, Connor.  
Maybe that's our way to cross the Fens and make our way to the city center."

The blonde nodded. "Aye, fuckin told ye so!"

He made Murphy turn around again to put the map away.

"Let's go. I don't wanna run out of daylight before we get there."

* * *

They decided to stay on the sidewalk close to the Fens, and pretty soon they passed Fenway's victory gardens. Another mutilated corpse was lying on the road, but the younger twin decided not to look at it. He just stared at all the flowers and trees on the other side, and after passing some high bushes and trees they could see the Prudential building. If all the instruction plates they had just seen were right then this meant that it was within the safe zone, so maybe getting there was easier than they had thought. Because really, it looked like he could almost touch it.

"Look, there's te Pru" he said and pointed at the skyscraper.  
  
Both Eunice and Connor looked at it, but neither of them would say anything.

"Remember when we jumped down there Conn?" he continued because he was getting sick of everyone and everything being so quiet. It was Boston, a big city, why couldn't they hear anything but the wind, the rustling of the trees down the road and a strange murmuring and groaning that seemed to follow them wherever they went?

"Aye" he heard Connor murmur and waited for him to say anything else, but his twin just kept walking and watching the area.

"'t was fuckin cool. Shoulda seen us Eunice. No matter how much I hate Connor and his stupid fuckin plans all te time, it sure was awesome.  
Felt like flying."

Eunice smiled and was just about to answer when Connor suddenly stopped walking and hushed them.

"Ye hear that?" he asked and both Eunice and Murphy listened up.  
They could hear loud moaning and groaning and the rustling of what sounded like chains.

"The fuck is that?" Murphy asked and Connor hushed him again.

They could see another street right in front of them, but it was empty. Pretty soon they were sure that the noise was coming from a group of walkers somewhere near them, but they couldn't see them. Connor grabbed his machete and looked at his companions.

"You go and hide behind the bushes, 'm gonna have a look and see what te fuck is going on."

Murphy shook head.  
  
"Are you fuckin mental? Yer nat going alone!"

His twin glared at him.

"Do as I say, Murphy MacManus. I'll be right back."

"Fuck you, yer nat my boss ye asshole! You can't.."

"Shut it, now's not the time to argue!" Connor interrupted him and turned around to leave.  
  
Murphy was just about to run after him when Eunice grabbed him by his pea coat and held him back.

"He's right Murphy. Let him."

* * *

Connor tried to stay low. He was half running, half tiptoeing until he reached the t-intersection that connected Park Drive with Boylston street.  
  
He could see a couple of walkers down the road to his left, where a gas station was located. Then he turned his head when he heard the groaning again. Connor almost dropped his machete in horror. Boylston Street was another four lane street that crossed the Fens as Richardson Bridge, and now that he thought about it, he shouldn't be surprised that it was blocked as well. There was another massive fence about 200 yards down the road and in contrast to Agassiz Road, which had been abandoned, there were about four dozen walkers piling up on it, dragging and shaking the fence and trying to get through.

"Fuck" Connor murmured and turned his head again to look for another way.  
  
Two walkers were getting closer, but he didn't pay any attention to them just yet. He saw another street right in front of him, and the flood lights of Fenway Park. He knew that there was no way they could get to the other side of the Fens by using Richardson bridge. He was just about to return to his brother when he heard Eunice scream. A second later he heard Murphy shouting his name. Without hesitation he answered, it was his most basic instinct after all.

"Murph!" he yelled at the top of his lungs and wanted to start running, but when the rustling of chains and moans to his right suddenly stopped, he froze.  
  
For a second it was quiet in Boston, then he heard a loud gunshot coming from Park Drive, and slow and unsteady footsteps coming down Boylston street. Connor turned his head in horror and looked back. The entire herd of walkers was slowing making its way down the road, coming to get him.  
  
"Connor!" he heard Murphy shout again, which made him snap out of his state of complete and utter shock.   
  
Then, without hesitation, he started running.


	5. Fenway Park

"Murph!" Connor yelled again because pretty much every walker close to them had heard him anyway. He didn't care about the herd coming closer or all the other walkers that were getting interested in him. He cursed himself for leaving his brother alone and wandering off on his own, and suddenly the couple of yards that separated them felt like thousands of miles. The blonde could make out his younger half where he had left him, right in front of the Fenway Victory Gardens.

"Murph! What the fuck happened?!"

When he finally reached his younger twin and knelt down next to his brother to check on him, he finally saw _what_ had happened. Eunice was lying there in Murphy's lap, and right behind them was a dead walker with a bullet to his head. The detective was covered in blood and pressed her hand to her neck that was bleeding heavily.

"Fucker came outta nowhere and bit her man, I...fuck, and I.." Murphy tried to explain.   
  
When Connor looked at him he saw that his brother was shaking.

"'s alright Murph, were gonna take care af that, Eunice? Can ye hear me?"

The woman was in shock by the looks of it, and when Connor tried to move her hand away a gush of blood seeped through her fingers.

"Fuck.."

The blonde twin looked up to see where the herd was.  
He widened his eyes in shock when he saw that they were passing the junction and entering Park Drive, coming closer and getting louder.

"What the fuck!" Murphy exclaimed when he finally saw them too.

Connor searched his duffel for a t-shirt and wrapped it around Eunice neck.  
Two seconds later and it was soaked with blood.

"We gotta move her, we gotta go back to the apartment Murph."

"But what about the safe zone?!"

Connor grabbed Eunice by her arms to lift her up.

"All the streets are fuckin blocked! There's walkers piling up on it everywhere! Eunice's injured, we gotta go, take her somewhere safe! I fucking told ye 't was a shite idea!"

The older twin turned around to head back for their apartment. Murphy grabbed both their duffels and ran after him. Connor could hardly run because Eunice was way heavier than she looked, and he thanked god that walkers were just as handicapped and unable to run.

"We gotta get her to some fuckin hospital, there's gotta be some place!" Murphy shouted and kept turning around to check on the walkers.  
"They're catching up!"

"Shut it Murph, yer yelling ain't fuckin helping!"

They were passing Peterborough Street when Connor suddenly stopped in his tracks and his brother ran right into him.

"Jesus fuckin christ."

Coming around the corner, and exiting most of the buildings that faced the Back Bay Fens, were another couple of dozen walkers, making it impossible for the MacManus twins to get back to their apartment. Murphy turned around to see where the other herd was and cover his brother's back.

Connor's mind was racing. _Was this it?_ The walkers were slow and dumb and he couldn't possibly believe that they were _still_ so dangerous and actually able to surround them, get them so _easily_.

"They're coming closer!" Murphy announced and his brother growled.  
  
He looked at the walkers approaching them from the other side of the road. Connor tried to make out some place where they could go, but there was water to their left, walkers in front of them and behind them and no possible way to get back to their apartment. _Think Connor, think, were the fuck are we sapposed to go._

He heard Eunice whimpering and gasping in his arms, and he knew that with every second he spent on thinking about their whole situation their friend was bleeding to her death and the walkers were closing in on them. The Irishman turned his head. He could see another bunch of walkers stumbling down Peterborough Street, the street that was heading west, _wrong fuckin direction,_ but right now it looked like their only way out.

"This way!" he yelled and started running.

Connor was unable to fight the walkers because he was carrying Eunice, so it all came down to Murphy shooting and fighting their way out. His younger half ran ahead to kill all the walkers in front of them with his machete, and whenever Connor could hear a walker coming too close behind his back he yelled for his brother to shoot them. And once again he thanked god that they were such a good team and his younger half such a decent fighter.

They reached the intersection where Jersey Street and Queensberry Street met, and the blonde let out a relieved sigh. Jersey Street was where the entry to their apartment and the little store was. He didn't know for how long he could keep running. It felt like Eunice was getting heavier with every step he took, and the smell of blood and copper made him feel sick. Murphy suddenly stopped and turned his head to look at his brother.

"They're fuckin everywhere!"

Connor had finally caught up with him and turned his head to see how far away their apartment was.  
He cursed when another herd of walkers was blocking their way out.

"Shit, ye gotta carry her fer a bit Murph." he gasped and handed Eunice over.  
  
The blonde put his hands on his hips to catch breath, then he took the machete and bags from Murphy.  
He loaded his guns and turned around to see where the walkers he had brought with him were.

"Fuck."

They were getting _close_. Connor turned around to see how bad the situation was further west, but he wasn't surprised when he saw that there weren't exactly less walkers. And the walking dead weren't their only problem. Every freaking street and house looked the _same_. _Where the fuck were they?_

"Conn, she's getting weaker, I can hardly hear her fuckin breathin." Murphy said and shifted Eunice's weight to the other side.  
  
Connor narrowed his eyes when he saw a blue banner down the street.   
_Fenway Park_.   
He nudged his brother's shoulder and pointed at it.

"I fuckin forgot about that! Fenway Park! The fuckin stadium! There's gotta be someone there, maybe they put up military camps in there, they're always using big shit like stadiums fer emergencies!"

He grabbed his machete and approached a walker that was getting dangerously close to them. He was wearing a nice suit and looked like he had been a former banker. Without missing a heartbeat Connor cut his throat and kicked his leg. When the walker stumbled and fell another gush of blood was raining down on him, cold, sticky and stinking, and he was surprised how indifferent he had become to that in just a matter of hours. A day ago it wouldn't have been this easy for him to kill like that, but now that one of them had bitten Eunice, now that hundreds of them were after him and his brother, he had come to terms with the whole killing thing, and most importantly, that those things weren't people any more.

The twins headed north, where the stadium was, and soon apartment buildings gave way to business centers and sporting goods stores. They passed Bolyston Street once more, where a massive traffic jam was blocking the entire intersection. Prudential Tower and Hancock Place were clearly visible to their right, but with all the cars, walkers and fences blocking their way there was no way they could get there any time soon. Once again they were reminded how _close_ the safe zone was and it was even more frustrating.  
  
They could see a Pharmacy just around the corner, but with all the entrances being barred and walkers everywhere Connor didn't want to risk breaking in. Smashing the windows would be way too loud, and they had no idea how much time they had until the walkers caught up with them. And there was no way he wanted to get trapped in a store right in the middle of the city with thousands of walkers surrounding them and trying to get in.

The twins kept walking and running until Murphy was out of breath and it was Connor's turn to carry Eunice, and after running and fighting their way through Fenway they finally reached the stadium. For a moment they just stood in front of it and stared at the massive building. There was another load of cars blocking the streets, and there was an alarmingly high number of ambulances and police cars.

Connor listened up for a moment, only to hear... _nothing._ They could hear no sirens, no one talking, no emergency broadcasts coming through the massive stadium speakers. There was nothing but the groaning and murmuring of the undead roaming through the streets. It didn't surprise them that all the gates were closed. Connor made Murphy carry Eunice again, then approached the steel door that was designated "GATE D" . He started shaking it but it wouldn't open. He turned around to see if he could make out another entrance, but massive obligatory construction fences were blocking his view. He noticed the fences right next to gate D, fences that looked like they were part of the building itself.

"Conn, it's getting worse" Murphy said.  
  
He was sitting on the pavement and looking at unconscious Eunice in his arms.   
Connor just looked at them for a moment, then he saw the walkers coming closer again.

"We gotta get in there. There's _gotta_ be someone in there, just look at all the fuckin ambulances and police cars."

"Don't ye fuckin see it man?! They abandoned this place!" Murphy yelled and glared at his brother.  
  
He couldn't believe how naive and _narrow-minded_ Connor was these days.

"I fuckin see it! But ye know what _I_ see? Fences surrounding the building, fuckin ambulances with medical supplies. I bet there's a cafeteria with food in there, maybe even a shitload af supplies!"

He passed his brother to take a look at the steel gate that wasn't as high as the other fences.  
Shaking it didn't do anything at all, but then he got an idea.

"Let's climb over the gate."

Murphy turned his head and frowned.

"The fuck, we don't even know what's in there! Could be too fuckin dangerous! There could be a shitload af walkers in there!"

Connor let go of the gate and approached his twin to get Eunice.

"Fuck ye, everywhere is dangerous now! Fuckin use yer brain Murph, that herd is close, we might've lost them fer now but god knows how long 's gonna take til they catch up on us! And I'd rather be on te other fuckin side af this fence instead af running through this fuckin city with no cover at all!"

He carried Eunice over to the gate and looked at his brother.

"You climb on the other side, I'm gonna hand her over and be right behind her. Take the machete with ye."

Murphy got up and turned his head to check the streets for walkers. There were maybe five or six of them slowly stumbling their way down Van Ness street. After turning and looking for another way the younger twin finally gave in.

"Yer gonna be the death af me with yer stupid fuckin plans" he murmured and climbed up the gate.

For a moment he remained on the top to have a look around, but he couldn't see any walkers inside.   
Murphy looked back at Connor who was waiting impatiently, so he let out a sigh and jumped.

"Alright, 'm fuckin here."

"'m gonna try t'get her over the gate." he heard Connor say on the other side.

"Fuckin hurry" the dark haired twin complained.

Not only because being all alone on this side of the fence made him feel uncomfortable, but also because he didn't want Connor to be all alone on the streets with walkers all around them and Eunice bleeding to death. After some shifting and complaining Connor and Murphy managed to get the injured detective on the other side of the fence, and a minute later the blonde twin joined his brother as well. He pointed at the stairs right in front of them, the staircase that was attached to the outside of the stadium and headed all the way up to the top.

"Best way t'get in, don't ye think?" Connor suggested and took hold of Eunice again.  
  
For a moment he just looked at her blood stained face, then he felt her pulse.

"Fuck, we gotta hurry."


	6. Stadium

It felt like it took them forever to get Eunice up the stairs and into the stadium. The detective had lost her conciousness by now, and both twins knew that there was no way they could take a break from running and climbing right now. Because Eunice needed help. _Immediately_. They had just reached the first floor when Connor suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"Ye hear that?"

Murphy listened up. All he could hear was the groaning and moaning coming from the streets below, all the walkers that were passing the stadium and piling up on the gates. The dark haired twin frowned and shook his head. He urged his brother to keep walking, then he heard it as well. There was static noise and the cracking of what sounded like a walkie-talkie, and it sounded like there was someone talking. Both twins looked at each other, then they started running. Murphy, who was carrying nothing but their bags and the machete, entered the stadium first. Connor tried to keep up with his brother, but it wasn't easy with Eunice getting heavier with every single move he made.

"Don't fuckin run like that! Be careful!"

He turned around once more to see how many walkers were on the streets below. The gate was shaking violently, and every once in a while he could see a bloody hand grabbing the very top. He had no idea how much time they had until the gate broke and the walkers got in, but he was sure it was just a matter of days until they would manage to get in. If they were lucky. The blonde rushed after his brother and entered the stadium as well. He saw Murphy standing there by the top row of seats that were designated as sections 17 and 18.

"Ye see anyone? Murph?"

His brother was just standing there and not moving at all, which made Connor suspicious.

"What the fuck's..." he stopped talking when he reached the top row as well.

Fenway Park was the oldest Major League Baseball stadium, home to the Boston Red Sox, constantly sold out, and even the twins had seen it on television every once in a while despite their lack of interest. Connor and Murphy had never really been into baseball, but whoever had been a fan sure would have loved being inside that stadium. Back in the old days the view must have been amazing. Except it wasn't amazing any more. Not at all.

"Oh my god" was all Connor managed to say.

Never in their lives had they seen something like _this._  
The 300ft wide and 400ft long baseball field had been converted to an enormous _graveyard._

They could see hundreds and hundreds of bodies lying on the ground, all safely packed away in white body bags. Row upon row of bodies, small, tall, children, men, women, covering the _entire_ field. Murphy placed a hand on one of the seats and sat down. This was too much.

The baseball diamond had been converted to a temporary American Red cross camp. Tents and pavilions had been put up, and there were several ambulances parked at the very end of the field. What was even worse than all the bodies and the stench...they were all alone. The place looked deserted.

"What the fuck is going on Conn" Murphy asked and shook his head.  
  
When he looked at his brother there was nothing but fear and confusion. Connor put Eunice down and loaded his guns.

"I gotta go down there, check one af the tents fer medical supplies, maybe there's someone there."  
  
He made his way to the stairs when Murphy got up and grabbed him by his arm.

"Don't! Don't fucking go all on yer own again. 'm coming with ye."

Connor shook him off and growled.

"You gotta look after Eunice, she is fuckin bleeding to death here Murph!"

He turned around and started running down the stairs. The closer he got to the ground the more he could smell how bad it really was.  
Smelling all the walkers outside had been bad, but nothing compared to this sort of decomposition.

He had just reached the next section when he heard how Murphy was shouting his name again. Connor couldn't see his brother from where he was standing, and for a moment he didn't really know what to do. He was half way down, and it really wouldn't take him long to check one of the tents for supplies, but when Murphy kept shouting his name, his brother instincts kicked in. He cursed himself for doing this to Eunice, having her wait another couple of minutes, but Murphy always came first. The blonde ran back up the stairs. When he finally reached the top he was completely out of breath.

"What's wrong?!" he managed to say and tried to catch breath.  
  
Murphy was kneeling next to Eunice, his hands bloody and eyes widened in shock.

"She's fuckin dead!"

Connor looked at the injured woman to his feet, tried to make out whether her chest was rising and falling, but nothing would happen.

"Yer shitting me!"

He knelt down next to Eunice and rested his head on her chest to check her heartbeat, but he couldn't hear a thing.

"No fucking way!"

He put his hands on her chest and started pumping.

"Just cos her heart stopped beating it doesn't mean she's dead!" Connor grunted and Murphy looked at him.

"She's lost too much blood, we're no fucking doctors Connor!"

The older twin checked her pulse and breathing one more, but there were still no vital signs.

"You don't fucking die, ye hear me Eunice!" Connor yelled and bowed down to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation when Murphy grabbed him by his shoulders and pulled him back.

"No!" he shouted and they both fell back.  
  
Connor cursed and tried to fight his brother off.

"Are ye fuckin mental, 'm trying ta save her life here! Eunice!"

Murphy held him tight and wouldn't let him near her.

"Don't ye fucking get it Connor, she is _dead._ She's fuckin dead."

"I can still save her! Let me go Murphy!" Connor yelled and kept fighting his brother's grip.

"No! You touch her lips and you get infected! She told us, you get bit and you die and you turn!  
The infection gets transmitted through bites, saliva! She's infected!"

The older MacManus finally managed to get rid of his younger half and knelt back down next to Eunice. She still wasn't breathing or moving at all, and when he took her cold hand Connor realized that his brother was right. Eunice Bloom. Who had helped them get out of prison. Another good friend. Dead.

He just looked at her blood stained face for a while. He knew that it was his fault. He had been the one to run off and leave them alone. He hadn't been there to cover their backs and see the walker. He hadn't run fast enough to get her here. He had been the one to listen to them instead of staying inside. Connor let go of her hand, got up and walked away.

"Connor.." Murphy shouted after him, but right now he didn't want to be near Eunice. Near his brother.  
  
Because all the confusion and fear and anger was eating him up. He just didn't understand how they could lose _everyone_ in a matter of weeks. Not only their friends. It looked like everywhere they went there were just dead people, it felt like the whole of Boston, hell, the whole world was dying around them.  
  
He walked a couple of yards until he reached section 14, then he stopped and just looked at the bodies that were lying on the baseball field. It was strangely quiet inside the stadium. A stadium that had used to be filled with laughter, cheering, music, the sound of bats hitting balls. There was nothing but silence and the murmuring of the undead outside.

Connor put his hands on his hips and tried to calm down. He was the calm one after all, wasn't he? He was the one Murphy looked up to when things went wrong. He was the one who was supposed to be their brain. But how could he keep calm after seeing all this? After watching Eunice die and being so fucking helpless? The blonde kicked one of the chairs because he could no longer keep it in. He knew he needed to be strong for Murphy, but right now he just _couldn't_.

He wanted to rip all the seats out of the ground and throw them at all the bodies to cover them, make them disappear, make everything disappear and go away. _Why was this happening to them?_ He grabbed one of the seats just so he wouldn't fall to his knees, because right now it felt like he was having a complete nervous breakdown. He stared up at the sky as if there was an answer, and in his head he kept repeating the question over and over again.   
  
_Why._

He waited and waited but no answer would come. And yet again he was reminded how completely _alone_ they were. Connor let go of the seat and turned around to look where his brother was. Murphy was kneeling next to Eunice, shifting her body and taking care of her. His younger half didn't know that he was watching him, and whenever he was completely unaware of that he looked like he was 10 years younger. There was something so childish about Murphy, like you could break him easily. Connor knew his brother all to well and knew that this was just an illusion and Murphy sure knew how to break necks, but this was one of the moments where he didn't look like it at all. Because it looked like the kid was crying.

It wasn't the first time he saw his brother cry. How devastated he really could be. When they had lost Rocco, their father.  
No matter how hard they tried to look tough and be tough serial killers, they were still human after all.   
Of course they mourned the death of a friend or a family member.

They were twins and yet they had their own way of showing emotions. Murphy was the one who was very emotional, who could just break down and cry and be vulnerable. Connor was the one to lose his shit in situations like that. So when he saw his brother like this again, he just got angry.

He turned around once more just so he didn't have to face his twin, and when he looked back up at the sky and there was still no answer, he kicked the seats once more and cursed as loud as he could. His words were echoing through the entire building , another reminder that they were all by themselves now.

* * *

When Connor got back to Murphy he saw his younger half sitting on one of the chairs and just staring down at the bodies. The blonde looked at his brother for a while and just watched him. He could tell that Murphy had been crying, because his eyes were red and he looked like shit, but it looked like he had stopped as soon as he had seen him come back. Eunice was still lying there on the ground with arms folded over her chest.

"We gotta give her to the lord" Murphy said quietly and Connor sat down next to his brother.

"I was just waiting fer you ta come back so we can do it together."

"Aye" Connor responded just as quietly and low-spirited as his brother.

They didn't speak for a while, and much to their surprise they didn't even feel like smoking. They were glad that they could sit down and rest for a bit, but this also meant that they had time to actually _think_ about everything. Connor searched their bags for a small bottle of water and after taking a sip he handed it to his brother. Murphy shook his head, but his twin urged him to drink.

"Yer gonna need it. God knows when we get the chance to take the next break."

His younger half growled and took the bottle. Connor sighed and rubbed his eyes.  
God, all this shit was making him tired.

"Ye don't have ta be scared. 'm not gonna let them hurt ye, you know" he murmured and Murphy snorted.

"'m not scared. And I'm not fuckin five anymore Connor"

He looked at all the bodies and sighed.

"'m just so fucking confused, ye know?"

His twin nodded. "Aye."

"I mean, what the fuck is happening, how the fuck..where...how the fuck did we miss all this. Christ, just, look at them and..."

"Murphy."

The dark haired twin looked at his brother who nodded.

"I know."

Connor put the bottle away and sighed.

"'m gonna get us outta here. We're gonna come up with a plan and stick to it. It's what we do. We're gonna get one af the boats. There's gotta be military somewhere, refuge camps, just like ye said. We're gonna find 'em and everything's gonna work out somehow. You just gotta believe, aye? God's on our side after all. Everything's gonna be fine."

Both twins startled when they heard a low and tired moan behind them.  
Connor and Murphy turned around in surprise, only to see Eunice shifting and moving and slowly getting up from the ground.


	7. Mercy

It was both interesting and horrifying to watch how a walker came to "life". All the typical mannerisms that made Eunice "Eunice" were fading away. The way she was trying to get up and walking looked nothing like a normal human being would act. It looked like it was the single most exhausting and complicated thing to do. The thing that had used to be their friend, Eunice Bloom, the FBI agent, had turned into a battered, clumsy and helpless... monster. Because the noises she was making weren't human anymore.  
  
It was an animalistic growl and hissing, and the way she was trying to get them with her bloody hands, scratching and crawling and fighting, it made her look like a harpy. Eunice finally managed to stand on her feet and although she was shaking and staggering like a drunk she started walking, coming closer and closer and growling and snapping at Connor and Murphy. The twins gasped in surprise and got up.

"Eunice?" Connor asked and the woman tilted her head.

"Aye, Eunice, it's us!" Murphy tried to reason with her.

For a moment it almost looked like Eunice was remembering, and the twins thought that if they just kept talking to her, reasoning with her, then maybe there was enough humanity left in her. Their hopes were destroyed when she just growled and sped up. Connor and Murphy were still walking backwards, trying to get away from her but keeping an eye on their friend and talking to her at the same time.

"Just come on, man, Eunice! It's us! Connor! Murphy! You can't tell me ye can forget us from one second to the next!" Connor went on and Murphy frowned. He looked at the detective, saw the way she walked, all the blood and the bite wound and most importantly: how different her eyes were. The Irishman just knew that this couldn't possibly be Eunice anymore. She looked exactly like _them_. No matter how much she looked like Eunice, it was her body at all, their friend was gone.

"This isn't Eunice anymore" the younger MacManus observed and Connor turned his head to look at his brother.

"What? Don't be stupid, of course it's Eunice! We brought her here, I carried her here!"

Eunice snarled and growled even more. She was trying to walk faster, but she was so clumsy and helpless and almost unable to control her feet that she couldn't possibly run. Her growls got louder with every inch the twins moved further away, and it almost sounded like she was getting angry. Murphy pointed at her.

"Ye can't tell me this is Eunice! She fucking died Connor! Ye heard it, there was no heartbeat, no breathing, Eunice is _dead_! Just like Duffy, Dolly, Smecker, she told us, you get bit and you - _die_ -! How do ye think all those people out there on the streets became what they are now! We've just seen how it fuckin works!"

"And what the fuck are we sapposed to do Murphy? Kill her? Smash her brains in like she's some sorta insect?!"

Connor looked at his brother in disbelief. Once again he was so _angry_.   
He didn't understand how Murphy could just adjust to everything so easily.  
Without questioning a thing, their morality, their beliefs.

"Destroy all that which is evil so which is good may flourish!" Murphy reminded him and Connor snorted.

He turned around and put his hands on his hips. Eunice was still coming and growling, and the inhuman sounds that escaped her mouth made it even more frustrating. It sounded like Eunice was actually agreeing with them, like god was trying to tell him Murphy was _right._ Connor turned around to face Eunice again. For a while he just tried to find _something._ Something that told him that Eunice was still in there, that this _creature_ wasn't evil, that there was something human about her, but after watching her for several minutes there was still no sign of that.   
  
Murphy was urging him to make a decision because they couldn't keep walking away from her forever, because sooner or later they would reach the very end of the grandstand. The older MacManus looked where their bags were. They were still lying on the seats where they had left them in a hurry. Their ammo and everything else was in there. They did have the guns and the machete with them, but he didn't want to use them.

"There's no fucking way we're bashing her brains in with the machete" Connor finally said and Murphy turned his head to look at his brother.

"So what do we do, use the guns?"

The blonde chewed on his bottom lip and looked at their bags again.

"We can't shoot the guns like that, they're fuckin loud. We would attract even more walkers to the stadium. We gotta get our silencers, say the prayer and shoot her in the head. We'll make it quick and painless. Maybe yer right, maybe that isn't Eunice anymore, but there's no way we're letting her suffer, that isn't what god wants."

Murphy looked at Eunice and their bags and nodded.  
Of course it wasn't easy for him to kill Eunice either, but he thanked god that Connor finally seemed to get it.

"Alright, what's te plan, how do we get the bags?"

* * *

_Why was it always him? Most importantly, why did he always ask Connor to plan things?_ Murphy tried to make as much noise as possible. He started yelling at Eunice, kicking the seats and hitting the steel construction with his machete. The noise was echoing through the entire stadium and the younger twin was pretty sure that even the walkers outside could hear it. But it worked.  
  
Eunice was completely fixated on him and didn't pay any attention to Connor who was a few flights of stairs further down and tried to make his way back to their bags. Every once in a while their former friend would turn around, irritated because of the figure behind her, but whenever she was getting too interested in Connor, Murphy would make even more noise.

"Want fresh meat, how about ye come and get it Eunice! Come on, I'm here, just waiting fer you!"

The walker that had used to be their friend turned around again and looked at Murphy.  
Then she snarled and started walking in his direction again.

"Aye, that's right! Come at me!"

He cursed when he hit his head and ran right into a wall behind him. Murphy turned around in surprise only to see that he had reached the very end of this section. There was a massive concrete wall separating this part of the grandstand from the next, and to keep going he would have to make his way down the seats. He looked at his twin on the other side. Connor was still busy searching for their silencers.

"Connor, hurry the fuck up!" Murphy yelled and his twin looked up.  
When he saw that the younger was trapped he widened his eyes.

"Fuck! 'm trying! You sure you took them with ye?!"

Eunice was getting dangerously close now.  
There was no point in staying there any second longer, so Murphy cursed and climbed over a few seats to get down.

"Of course I took them with me! Open yer fuckin eyes and hurry!"

The former detective tried to climb over the seats as well to get Murphy, who was making his way back to his brother. Eunice growled and snarled furiously, and the twins had to realize that the more time they spent on searching for their silences the angrier and more aggressive she got. It looked like she was gradually gaining strength with every minute she was walking, every minute she was adjusting to being a walker after dying.   
  
The younger MacManus finally reached his brother and knelt down next to him to grab his duffel bag and search for their silencers. He knew _exactly_ where he had put them, and a few seconds later he pulled them out with a triumphant "ha!" He threw one at Connor and grabbed his Beretta to get it ready. Eunice was making her way back to them as well and made it very clear that they didn't have much time at all. She was just about five meters away from them when they were done and got up.

"Ready?" Connor asked and Murphy nodded.  
  
They were walking backwards again, just to keep their distance. They weren't walking so fast this time because they wanted Eunice to come closer so they could take better aim. Now that they were ready they didn't say the prayer at once though. They took their time to look at their friend, talk to her once more, fight their urge not to do it. They had never shot a _friend_ before. This was very different to their usual killings.

"'m sorry Eunice" Murphy murmured and they both knew that it was time.

"And shepherds we shall be, For Thee, my Lord, for Thee."

Eunice was still growling and staggering but their guns followed her movement, staying fixed on her head.

"Power hath descended forth from Thy hand, That our feet may swiftly carry out Thy command."

It looked like she was especially interested in Murphy, because she was walking in his direction and staring at him with her wide grey eyes. _I'm glad you're still alive Murphy. The things I've seen..Years of training and I still wasn't prepared for_ that _._ Murphy swallowed and tried not to think about it. _This isn't Eunice anymore. 's just a walker._ He kept repeating these words in his head but even that wouldn't help. He still felt like he was betraying their friend. Christ, she had _trusted_ them.

"So we shall flow a river forth to Thee And teeming with souls shall it ever be."

He didn't even need to tell Connor. The older MacManus knew what his twin was feeling and thinking, they were two halves of a whole. They were feeling and thinking the exact same thing. And as always, whenever they were in situations like that, he felt the urge to make it easier for Murphy. Being twins and not really knowing who was the older he could expect his brother to make it easier for _him_ , because god lord how much he wanted someone to take that gut wrenching pain away, but somehow he had accepted it as _his_ job. So he placed a hand on Murphy's shoulder and squeezed it gently to let him know.   
  
_I know. I know it's hard, but I'm here. We're in this together._

"In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti."

Two bullets hit Eunice head. She was thrown back and fell to the ground.


	8. Belief

For a while they just sat there and stared at the bodies that were lying on the baseball field. Neither Connor nor Murphy wanted to talk. Even if they wanted to, they had no idea what to say. Connor searched his pockets for a cigarette pack after a while, and when he found it he lit two smokes and gave one to Murphy. Every once in a while the younger MacManus would look at Eunice's body to their left. She was still lying where she had fallen to the ground, with arms crossed over her chest and two pennies in her eyes.  
  
He sighed and turned his head again. He didn't want to look at what they had done any longer. Didn't want to see another corpse lying there. The moans outside were getting louder. They were sure that the walkers had picked up their trail. Or god knows how these things worked and how they knew where to find them. He knew that they couldn't sit here forever.

"What should we do now?" he asked quietly and Connor sighed.  
  
He rubbed his left eye and shrugged.

"Keep going I guess."

"City center?"

Connor nodded.  
  
"Aye. Boats. Just like Eunice said."

"How do we get there?"

"Mass Pike."

He turned around to search their bags for the map.  
Murphy grabbed one end and Connor pointed at the stadium on the map.

"We're here. Boylston Street's there, and that's blocked. I bet that every single road heading east will be barricaded, just like every single fuckin road we've been on. I read something about Mass Ave being used as border, so I guess we gotta find a way t'get past that. Best chance's gotta be Mass Pike. There's bridges we could use to cross the blockades, there's fences to each side maybe someone left their keys in their car and we can gettit."

He looked at the wrist watch he had taken with him.

"I guess sun won't be up fer too long now, so we definitively need to hurry. I don't wanna spend another night out in the open with all those fuckers surrounding us. Sounds like more and more are coming here, and I don't wanna get surrounded. We need t'get to the safe zone. We have ta thank god that we're not too far away fram it. Just imagine how long it would've taken us to get there from our old apartment."

Murphy nodded and looked at the map.   
After a moment he pointed at Kenmore subway station.

"What about te T? We could try t'get to the other side underground."

Connor snorted.

"Don't be silly Murph. There's no way we're going down there. God knows how many of those fuckers are down there. Besides, we don't know when they cut us off from the big power stations and we're running outta electricity. There's no way I'm running around in a fuckin dark tunnel surrounded by walkers. And I bet that they locked them up, we don't even know how t'get in and outta there."

Murphy sighed and blew out some smoke.  
Then he pointed at the bodies.

"What about down there, should we go there and check the tents fer stuff?"

Connor looked down as well and chewed on his lower lip.  
  
"I don't know. Could be pretty fuckin dangerous. We've got no idea how many of them are down there either."

He looked at Murphy's machete and tilted his head.

"On the other hand, maybe there's more weapons down there? We can't just stick to the guns and machete. We need another one, or something similar to it. Maybe even a fuckin baseball bat."

The younger MacManus nodded.

"So we are we going down there?"

Connor nodded after a moment.  
  
"Aye. Aye, we're going down there."

* * *

Connor was sure that if they didn't die because of walkers attacking them the stench would kill them for sure. Because it was absolutely awful. Sometimes they had to stop walking down the stairs to cover their mouths and noses, because the further down they went the more intense the smell got. They had always thought that they had gotten used to the smell of dead people by now, they had killed dozens of them after all and it sure wasn't the first time they saw a body. But they had never been near a corpse that was rotting away.  
  
They didn't really know for how long all those bodies had been lying there, but some of them must have been brought there right when the outbreak had started. When they finally reached ground level and made their way through the temporary graveyard Connor retched, but he knew that there was no way they could stop to take a breath now. Because a) they didn't know how many of these people underneath all those blankets and inside all those body bags were walkers that could grab their feet any minute now and b) it wasn't like there was any fresh air there that would give them the chance to feel better anyway.

"fucking disgusting" Connor heard his brother murmur behind him and hushed him.

"Shattup, we don't know how many af those things are down here, keep quiet!"

Murphy crossed himself and murmured a quick prayer. He was clinging to his rosary with his one hand. _Don't leave us alone now._ He prayed because for the first time in his life he was actually really scared. Because Connor was right. God knows how many of them were walkers. What if they were just dormant? What if they all decided to get up at once? They would be outnumbered. It would be a bloody _massacre_. He thanked god that the tents weren't on the other side of the field.

Connor was the first to reach one of the tents and signaled his brother to get to the other side of the entrance to cover him.  
The blonde looked at his twin and reached out for the machete.

"Gimme the machete. I'm gonna go in there and see if there's any useful stuff, ye take yer guns and cover me in case shit goes down."

Murphy eyed him nervously and turned around to see if any of the bodies were moving.

"Are ye sure about that? I say we should just get te fuck outta here Connor."

"Don't be such a fuckin baby about it, we're here now, aren't we? We gotta take all the shit we can carry, we might need it, ye've just seen it.  
What if one af those fuckers bites ye and I've got nothing t'take care af ye?"

Murphy growled.   
  
"No one's gonna fucking bite me, now hurry up!"

He turned around again to keep an eye on all the bodies. God, they made him feel paranoid. Connor entered the tent as slowly and quietly as he could. It was pretty hard to keep an eye on everything, since the tent itself was divided into different sections by thin plastic walls and medical equipment and beds. It was even more chaos inside the tent than outside. Some of the beds were turned over and there was blood and medical waste everywhere. Connor found a few bandages and pills, but there was no sign of any other useful things.

"Connor?" he heard Murphy whisper outside and turned around.

"'s alright Murph. Looks empty."

He searched the whole tent, now a bit more confident since he was all alone in there and no walkers seemed to be around. He still thought it was rather odd. _Why were some of the beds turned over and why was there so much blood if there weren't any walkers around? Had they left?_ He got out of the tent and looked at his brother.

"Found a few bandages and stuff. But other than that. Stuff sure is weird. I don't know what the fuck's going on here.  
I mean te place looks abandoned, but inside it's fuckin chaos. Like shit went down."

Both twins looked at each other, then Murphy sighed. "Let's just check the other tents and get te fuck outta here."

* * *

There were three smaller tents and one bigger tent left. The twins decided to take turns, one brother going inside and searching for useful equipment, the other brother waiting outside and keeping an eye on the stadium. The longer they stayed on the baseball field the more paranoid they got. They felt so _surrounded_ and vulnerable all of the sudden. Because this was so very different. Connor and Murphy had always been quite confident and optimistic. They had never really feared any of the mobsters they had taken on, no matter how many of them had been there.   
  
_But this?_  
  
They had absolutely no clue how many enemies they had now. It could be the whole of Boston. And even they knew that they weren't invincible. Once again they were aware of what the other was feeling, and Connor would have loved to talk to make it a bit easier for them. maybe joke around, make fun of Murphy, but he knew that they _shouldn't_ talk down here. It was the new unspoken law. Don't make any noise. Don't let them see or hear you or you're dead.

As Connor kept watch outside and waited for Murphy to return his mind started drifting, trying to work through all the things, questions and worries he had been ignoring so far. It would be getting dark in a couple of hours and they needed a place to stay. _Where should they go? What was on the other side of that barricade? What if there was no safe zone? What if there weren't any survivors left in this city? What if Boston had been abandoned? What if there was no military, what if there weren't any boats?_

He tried to stay positive. Of course there were boats. Of course everything was going to be okay, he just needed to believe in it.   
But still, he couldn't fight that nagging, that feeling, that fear that was slowly eating him up: _What if?_

"Connor!" Murphy whisper-shouted and snapped his brother out of it.  
  
Connor startled and turned around to look at the bodies again, then he entered the tent as well.  
Murphy was standing at the far end of the tent, by some of the last beds.  
The blonde twin moved faster when he heard another noise.

"Well fuck me" Connor murmured when he saw why his brother had called him.

There was a nurse lying in one of the beds, with her arms cuffed to the armrest.Or more like someone that had _used_ to be a nurse. The woman in front of them was nothing else but a growling and moaning tired heap of rotting flesh with a bloody bite wound where her left cheek had used to be. Both twins just watched her for a moment. Once again they had to learn that there weren't just walkers, as Eunice had called them, it looked like there were different types of them. The majority of them being the slow and clumsy ones, but there were the more aggressive and faster ones like Eunice had been, and now there was this nurse.  
  
Of course, she still looked terrifying like this, with her teeth being visible through the bite wound and all the blood and her skin tone and eyes, but other than that she just looked sick and tired. She was moving very slowly. Even her groans and moans didn't sound as animalistic and aggressive as the others. She was still trying to get them, but her whole existence just seemed...pitiable.

Murphy breathed in sharply when he saw her necklace - a cross.  
  
So maybe she had been one of them after all. A believer. God's child. He imagined her praying for assistance and forgiveness, for their father, just like _he_ was doing it all the time now. And she was _still_ one of them, had been turned into _this_. It made him feel sick. He struck the machete down so it was stuck in the ground and left the tent.

Connor watched his brother leave. He wanted to say something, comfort him and tell him that everything was going to be ok, but right now, once again, he didn't feel like it himself. Because it made him angry as well. Connor looked back at the moving and growling woman, saw the necklace dancing and moving between her breasts. For another second he felt sorry for her and pitied her, but then the anger took over. The anger and hatred. Hellspawns had turned the body, that had once been home of this woman's soul, into this.  
  
He reminded himself that this wasn't the woman anymore, the believer. Whoever she had been, that woman was dead. Gone. To be with the lord. Because he worked in mysterious ways, right? He sure had his reasons to take her with him. It had happened to other innocent people before. Before the dead had risen.   
  
Back in their days when they had punished their murderers with bullets to their heads for taking a child's life, for raping women and corrupting people. This poor soul had been murdered. This was exactly the same. The only difference? Her murderer was inhabiting her body now. Because this disease was her murderer, because this disease made her body walk. So it was his job to punish her murderer. Just like he had always done.

_Somebody should go kill those motherfuckers. Kill them all._

Connor just glared at the woman, then he grabbed Murphy's machete and killed her.

He watched her taking her last breath, saw the blood slowly drenching the bed sheet until it started dropping down with a constant _plop. plop._ When the blood was just about to touch the cross on her necklace the Irishman decided to take it away from her. _Such a creature did not deserve to wear this._ Her soul was long since gone, god knows for how long. There was no point in asking for redemption now, was it? How were they supposed to put all those souls to rest now anyway? It would be impossible to give them all pennies and say the prayer every time they killed someone. This wasn't working anymore.  
  
From now on they needed new rules. They had to accept that these walkers weren't souls, neither were they people or worth redemption. These things were creatures from hell itself, and they did not deserve to wear symbols of the lord. Connor took the necklace and looked at it, then he wiped its surface with his thumb because there were tiny, almost invisible blood splatters on it. Once he had made sure that it was clean and shiny he put it in his trouser pocket, turned around and left the tent without looking back.


	9. Darkness

When Connor stepped outside he saw his brother sitting on the ground in front of the tent , staring at the bodies in front of him.  
Connor stopped right next to him and looked at Murphy.

"Did ye kill her?" his younger half murmured after a moment and the older twin nodded.

"Aye."

Murphy nodded.  
  
"Good. Sorry I stormed outta the tent all af the sudden."

Connor put his hands in his pockets and shrugged.  
  
"'s alright Murph."

The dark haired twin looked up to face his brother.  
  
"Let's just get te fuck outta this place, aye?"

Connor nodded and looked up to see the top of the stadium, then he turned around so he could face the side where Mass Pike was located.  
  
"Maybe we should see how bad it is over there first. I reckon we go back up there and check the situation."

Murphy growled. "Fucking stairs" he murmured and got up. Connor smirked.

"We could use some rope and..."

"Don't get me started on yer stupid fuckin rope" Murphy interrupted him and glared at Connor.  
  
He wanted to be mad at him, simply because whenever he just heard the word "rope" it made him go crazy, but right now this was one of the rare moments where it actually made him smile. He knew that Connor was just having him on and truth was that they didn't really had much else to laugh about these days, so he smirked and nudged his brother.  
  
The other twin chuckled and went after him. They had just reached the stairs when Connor suddenly nudged Murphy and asked him to stop. The darkhaired twin turned around and frowned. His brother was pointing at one of the dark entrances that led to the rooms that were located underneath the grandstand.

"Now what do ye think's down there?"

Murphy raised an eyebrow.   
  
"Darkness, baseball player walkers, old sweaty jerseys?"

Connor just looked at the entrance and seemed lost in thoughts for a moment.  
  
"We took the flashlights with us, didn't we?"

Murphy rolled his eyes.  
  
"There's no way 'm going in there, this is fucking ridiculous Connor!"

"Ye know what is fucking ridiculous? That we've gotta share one machete and that we haven't got much ammo and our guns are fuckin loud.  
We need something else. And I'm thinking there's gotta be baseball bats and shit down there, this is a fuckin baseball stadium!"

"Haven't we watched enough fuckin horror films ta know that yer not sapposed to enter fucking scary and dark places when shit goes down?  
Stuff like this is ridiculously dangerous and ye know it!"

Connor shoved his brother.  
  
"Don't be such a fuckin princess Murph. This isn't a horror movie, this is _real._  
Maybe it is dangerous, but so is going out there with no useful weapons!"

Murphy shoved him back and growled.  
  
"You and yer stupid plans all the time! Don't you fuckin tell me that this isn't a movie. I know how fucked up everything is!" the younger spat and glared at his brother. Connor just glared back at him, then he snorted and headed for the entrance. He hated how much they fought these days, it wasn't like them to really do that and _mean_ it.

"Come on, let's go. 's gonna be all right, I've got yer back" he tried to calm his brother down.  
  
He just didn't want to fight any longer.

It was so dark inside that even with their flashlights they could hardly see a thing. Their first reflex had been to use the light switch, but of course it wouldn't work. They figured that either the power must have been switched off by someone, or maybe there was a complete blackout in Boston altogether. Back in Ireland they didn't have any power on their farm either, so they didn't really mind the lack of electricity as much as others would do, but right now they would've prefered some light. Because this whole scenario was worse than any horror film they had ever watched. Because this was _real_.  
  
Connor cursed his imagination and brain, because he imagined all sorts of things that could be happening to them any second, and he wanted to punch himself for his stupid plans. No matter how much he hated to admit that his brother was right, even he had to admit that his plan was fucking _stupid_. Pretty soon they could hear noises coming from somewhere in front of them, and on the ground there was more and more blood until the light hit a bloody arm that looked like someone had used it as his chew toy. Connor groaned and pulled a face in disgust.  
  
"Jesus fuckin christ" he murmured and forwent it as good as he could. When Murphy saw the arm he reacted the exact same way, except that he cursed a whole lot more and murmured "I fucking hate you." Connor knew that it was directed at him, but he didn't want to get in yet another fight and make any noise, since he was pretty sure there were some walkers somewhere close to them.

They finally reached the changing rooms. There was blood everywhere and once again it smelled _awful_ , maybe even worse than outside. Murphy suddenly bumped into Connor and cursed, then he hit his shoulder nervously and animated his brother to turn around. "Connor, look left, look fuckin left!" he demanded and his twin did as he was told.  
  
He pointed his flashlight to his left and startled when he saw a figure sitting there on the floor, head down and surrounded by a pool of blood. It looked like he was a policeman and when Connor examined him he saw that the man was holding another machete in his one hand and a bunch of keys in the other.

"I think he's dead" the blonde said and Murphy snorted.

"How the fuck would ye know?"

Connor slowly approached the supposedly dead body and chewed on his bottom lip.

"Just reckon he'd have attacked us by now, don't ye think?"

He pointed the flashlight right at the figure's face and moved his hand up and down.

"Nah, I think he's dead."

The blonde turned around to look at his brother.  
  
"Gimme the machete just in..."

He yelped in surprise when the not-so-quite-dead cop suddenly grabbed him by his arm and started growling and snarling.

"Get te fuck off me ye asshole!" Connor yelled and tried to fight his grip.

"Connor!" Murphy shouted and ran for his brother.  
  
At first he tried to pull his twin away from the walker, but when it was just about to bite Connor's arm the younger let go of his brother and attacked the monster with his machete instead. He was so shocked and furious and scared that he started screaming and shouting at the walker, and he wouldn't stop stabbing him with the machete until he managed to cut his arm off. Connor gasped in surprise and fell back down.  
  
He fell right into the puddle of blood with a loud and disgusting splash, then he watched his brother fight the walker in horror. His twin looked like an animal for a second, even worse than any walker he had seen before. The way he kept yelling and cursing and stabbing the monster like he was some sack of meat. The walker responded with just the same animalistic snarls and screams, until it cut off abruptly when Murphy hit his head.

Both twins were panting heavily and when Murphy turned around to look at his brother, Connor saw that his face was covered in blood from the fight. Back in the old days, when they had been caught by Yakavetta and got tortured in his cellar, Murphy had also looked like this. Connor had never wanted to see his brother's face like this ever again, so it was even worse right now. Murphy wiped the blood off his face with the sleeve of his pea coat and turned around to look at the body in front of him. The older twin was just about to wipe his face as well when he noticed that the bloody hand was still wrapped around his wrist.  
  
The arm his brother had just cut off. Connor gasped and tried to get it off and once he did he threw it as far away as possible. When he looked back at his twin he saw that his younger half was kneeling next to the bloody remains of the cop he had just slaughtered and after just looking at his victim for a moment he grabbed the machete the walker had dropped and got back up. He approached Connor and handed it to him.

"Here you've got yer fucking weapon, yah happy now, asshole?!"

The blonde twin took it and tried to get up.

"Murph, I..."  
  
Loud banging to their right interrupted the older twin mid-sentence. Both brothers turned around in surprise only to see the door to the men's changing rooms shaking violently. Apart from the loud banging and creaking of the door they could also hear the steady and angry growling and moaning of what sounded like quite an amount of walkers. Connor and Murphy looked at the shaking door in horror, then they started walking backwards. The blonde twin placed a hand on his brother's shoulder and swallowed.

"I think we know why Mr Walker-cop's got fuckin keys in his hands and died right here" he said and Murphy looked at the bloody corpse.  
  
The keys were still lying on the ground right next to it. The dark haired twin nodded and swallowed as well.

"Aye" he managed to say and looked at Connor in horror.  
  
His twin did the same and nodded.

"I think we should get te fuck outta here _right now_."

"Aye" Murphy said again.

The twins looked at each other just a bit longer. When another loud bang made the door shake violently and they could hear a dangerous creaking of the door they turned around and started running.


	10. Mass Pike

Once they were back outside and standing on the baseball field both twins turned around and pointed their machetes at the dark entrance. They could hear the loud banging and groaning coming from inside, but it sounded like the walkers hadn't managed to get through yet. Connor and Murphy were still out of breath because of the fight and all the running, but they didn't want to waste another second on just standing there and catching breath. Connor pointed at the massive green wall to their right, the north wall of the stadium that was known as "the Green Monster" amongst football players and fans.

"Mass Pike's this way, there's gotta be another entrance" the blonde twin said and started running in that direction.  
  
Murphy followed him reluctantly, and he wouldn't stop turning around so he could see when the walkers managed to get out of their prison. As soon as they reached the very end of the grandstand Connor changed direction and started running up the stairs. Murphy saw another door at the very end of the stadium, right next to the Green Monster, which made him stop running for a moment. He watched his brother running up the stairs and shouted his name. He pointed at the door.

"What about that, this gotta be a fuckin way out! We can't stay here!" he yelled and Connor stopped running.

"There's gotta be another exit up here, I see stairs! And I fuckin told ye, we gotta check fer walkers first!  
We can't just run outta here without knowing what's on the other side!"

Murphy figured that his brother was pretty much right, but he still hated the idea of staying any second longer inside this stadium. They had no clue how many walkers were down there, and it sure wouldn't take them long to get out. The banging got louder and louder and it was a constant reminder that their time was running out. Murphy shifted the weight of his duffel bag from one shoulder to the next and ran after his brother, up the stairs, heading right for the massive Coca Cola sign on top of the stadium roof.

* * *

Once again they could clearly see the Prudential building, 111 Huntington Ave and Hancock Place. There was a massive black cloud of smoke coming from the city center, and it was even worse further west and south. If it really was as bad over there as Eunice had told them, then they could be pretty sure that there wouldn't be any firefighters taking care of all that smoke and fire any time soon.   
  
They could see a couple of walkers roaming down Lansdowne street in front of the stadium, but it didn't look as bad as on the other side where they had entered Fenway Park. Murphy remembered all the fences, tents and cars that were blocking Brookline Ave on the other side, and although it had been hard for them to cross that as well, now he thanked god that there was this sort of barricade preventing that herd they had crossed path with earlier from getting close to Mass Pike.

The interstate was another problem. They could see it perfectly fine from where they were standing, and once again it looked like their luck had left them. No matter in which direction they looked, the road was crowded with abandoned cars. Even the left side of the interstate, which was heading away from the city center, was clogged with vehicles that had been heading east where the safe zone was supposed to be. The dark haired twin looked at his brother and waited for him to say something, but Connor was busy trying to figure out how they could possibly get away from the stadium.  
  
He walked to the very end of the platform until he reached the flight of stairs that led back down to the road, then he looked up again to stare at the Prudential building and Mass Pike. There was a giant FedEx truck below, and it would make it easier for them to get down without having to go back down and exit the stadium through one of its gates. Connor's mind was racing once again as he tried to come up with a plan. They could still hear the loud banging coming from inside the stadium and the constant groaning and moaning everywhere was slowly driving the older MacManus insane.

"Can't they just shut the fuck up?!" he growled and glared all the walkers on the streets.  
  
How much he hated all the inhuman sounds they were making.  
He looked at his brother after a moment and sighed.

"Alright. Still think Mass Pike's our best option. I say we jump down on te truck, make our way across the street and down that little passage over there right next to tha bar. We go down, climb the fence and stay on the rails. I don't think there'll be a train coming any time soon. It's gotta be no more than two or five kilometers til we reach the Pru, and I bet there's military and police and all that shit on the other side. Right now I don't even care about them arresting us anymore, I just wanna get the fuck outta here."

He leaned over the railing to see if there were any walkers behind the truck, and when he looked back up he caught Murphy with a cigarette in his hand.  
The younger twin was just about to light it up when Connor grabbed his hand and shook his head.

"Now's not the time Murph, we gotta go, and I bet we need both hands down there, ye gotta focus."

Murphy growled and put his cigarette away.  
  
"I just need a fuckin break" he murmured and followed his brother down the stairs.

* * *

They climbed over the railing and jumped on top of the truck, and once they were outside their mood changed abruptly. The hour they had spent inside the stadium had been both exhausting and easier. Exhausting because they had lost Eunice, seen all those bodies and been attacked by an undead policeman, and easier because there hadn't really been _that_ many walkers and because there had been walls protecting them from their environment. Now that they were back outside and running around with nothing but a couple of guns, little ammo and two machetes, they felt vulnerable, and it was the uncertainty that was scaring them.

Connor was the first to climb down the truck, and once he was back on the road he had to kill another walker that was getting dangerously close. He could count about 10 to 20 more walkers down the road and thanked god that they had decided not to follow it any longer. He waited for his brother to come down the truck as well, and once they were both down on the road they started running towards the small passage between the bar that was called "Cask'n Flagon" and a parking garage. They climbed over the gate and made their way down, and when they reached the very end of the building next to them both twins stopped for a moment.  
  
Connor pointed to his brother's right to make him understand that he was supposed to check whether it was clear whereas he checked their left. No matter how much they fought these days, when it came down to this, whether it was a mission or running from something, they were always a very good team, and they could most certainly count on each other. Once they had made sure that there were no walkers on either side of the rails Murphy looked at his brother and whistled to get his attention. Connor turned his head and looked at his brother questioningly.

"Why don't we just check the parking garage fer a car?" Murphy whispered and Connor frowned.

"Have ye seen the roads? There's traffic jams everywhere, cars are fuckin useless."

The younger MacManus raised his eyebrows, but nodded after a moment.   
  
"Sappose yer right" he said and Connor nodded as well.

"Af course I am. Come on, let's go" the older responded and nudged his brother.

* * *

They followed the rails right next to the interstate 90 in silence. Connor was walking close to the road and kept an eye on all the abandoned cars and wrecks, whereas Murphy made sure that no walkers would come out of the warehouses and buildings to their right. They could see the three iconic skyscrapers right in front of them, getting closer and closer. For the first time since they had left their apartment they could actually take a deep breath and just walk without any walkers attacking them all the time. Every once in a while Connor would discover a person in one of the cars, but most of the time it were just dead people.   
  
Sometimes there were walkers still sitting inside some of the cars but they were unable to get out and attack since their seatbelts were still attached and locked. It looked like they really were too stupid to free themselves, and although it looked pathetic and a little bit upsetting neither of the twins would waste a minute on actually killing them. They weren't dangerous like this, so killing them was just a waste of energy and time.  
  
The MacManus twins kept going for quite a bit, and although they had to keep low and hide every once in a while because of stray walkers roaming down the interstate, there weren't too many dangers on this route. Murphy was getting used to the whole scenario quite easily, and pretty soon he felt comfortable and confident enough to start talking. Not only because the eerie silence , apart from the moans and groans from the walkers of course, was annoying him, but also because whenever he had been talking to his brother during the last couple of hours they had just been yelling at each other.

"Do ye think they're actually aware of what's happening ta them?" the younger MacManus asked quietly and his twin looked up.

"What?"

Murphy shrugged and hit one of the bushes they were passing with his machete.  
  
"Do ye think they know what they are, who they are and what is happening t'them. The walkers I mean."

Connor snorted and eyed one of the cars where he could see another body.   
  
"Why d'ye ask?"

"I don't know. Just trying ta figure out if they're still people or just fuckin monsters we're killin here."

The blonde twin sighed and looked at his brother.  
  
"Whatever the fuck they are, Murph, they're no good people. Good people don't try ta kill you. Good people would never attack their friends."

Murphy remembered the look on Eunice's face and how she had tried to kill them without ever stopping or listening to them. "Aye" he murmured and looked to their right when they passed an old brick building. There was a massive billboard on top of it, with a poster advertising beer. The younger MacManus sighed.

"Christ, what I'd do fer a pint or a shot."

Connor chuckled and grinned at his brother.  
  
"We could make a detour, go to McGinty's say hello to Doc."

Murphy smirked.  
  
"Aye, good idea brother."

Both twins chuckled and shared their favourite Doc stories for a bit, but when they came across another bunch of bodies on the road their mood changed again.

"Do ye think Doc's still alive?" Murphy asked as they stopped walking and looked at the bodies.

Connor just looked at the bodies and pressed his lips together. He frowned and shook his head. "I don't know Murph" he said and decided to get a closer look. Of course he knew that their old friend stood little chance of surviving something like _this._ All their other friends had died as well. Smecker. Eunice. Duffy. Dolly. They were all dead. So why should Doc survive this? Why should anyone survive this? He had never been a pessimist, but it was so hard to stay positive these days.  
  
He knew one thing for sure though, there was no way he would pull his brother down with him. And maybe lying made it easier. Speaking the truth, that their beloved friend could be dead as well, would make it final and he didn't want to lose that last spark of hope, that maybe someone was still alive, that maybe it was going to be ok. Connor approached the bodies on the road and stopped when he saw a woman lying there on the ground with a baby in her arms. When he took a closer look he saw that the woman had been shot in the head.

"Christ" Connor said and knelt down next to them.   
  
Murphy came closer as well so he could stand right to his brother and look at the dead family. The blonde MacManus carefully placed a hand on the small bundle that was still lying in the woman's arms and pulled the blanket down. It wasn't the first time they both saw a baby up close. Back in Ireland they had known a woman with a baby from church. They both had always loved kids, how happy and loud they were.  
  
The child they were looking at now was nothing but a small bundle of rotting flesh, its face nothing but a terrifying grimace. It looked like the baby had died screaming, but no one had answered its calls for help. Connor let go of the blanket and got up with an angry growl.

"Dead?" Murphy asked and his brother nodded.

"Aye."

The younger MacManus growled as well.  
  
"Fuck."

"'m gettin fuckin sick af this shit man" Connor murmured and started walking again.   
  
Murphy just stood there for a little longer and looked at the bodies, then he closed his eyes and murmured a quick prayer. Connor noticed that his brother wasn't following him and stopped to see where he was. When he saw Murphy standing there head down, with his hands clutching to his rosary and mumbling a prayer for the family, Connor just waited. Right now he didn't feel like praying, and he knew that it would be too dangerous to just stand there with eyes closed and not watching their enviroment.  
  
He had to watch his brother's back anyway, so he just waited for him to finish. When Murphy was done and looked back up he crossed himself and so did Connor. Now that he had time to think about it, it actually made him wonder if they would ever be able to go to church again. Christ, he really wanted to go to church. They _needed_ to go to church.  
  
36 years and the only ever had missed church when they had been in prison. _How was this supposed to work now?_  
Murphy sighed and turned his back on the dead family to catch up with his brother.

* * *

The Prudential was about half a mile away so they didn't want to stay on this side of the barricades for too long. They didn't speak after everything they had just seen and now that the cover to their right was gone and another street, Ipswich Street, was right next to them, they did not dare making any noise anyway. They were dangerously close to the spot were Connor had attracted that herd to them a couple of hours ago, right where the barricade that had cut them off from where Richardson bridge was. They were now approaching Bowker Overpass and when they got closer they had to realize that there was _another_ barricade.

"Shit" Connor said when they were about 100 yards away from the overpass and saw the police cars and fences that reached up to the very top of the bridge.

"You've gotta be fuckin kidding me" Murphy said and looked at the barricade, trying to find a hole, a door or some sort of way through.  
  
Both twins stopped walking for a moment and just looked at the construction that was keeping them _out_ of the safe zone.  
Out and locked up with all those _things_ surrounding them.

"How the fuck are people sapposed ta get to the fuckin boats if there's no one here telling them were ta go and letting them in?!" Murphy complained.  
  
He started shaking the fence when they finally reached it. Connor started walking up and down the fence to see if he could see an entrance.   
There weren't any cars on the other side of the fence. They couldn't see any walkers either.

"Well, people must've gotten in or else there wouldn't be so many abandoned cars here, aye?" the older MacManus concluded and turned around to look at all the cars. He could see a couple of walkers who had followed them but other than that there was absolutely nothing. No police. No military. No survivors.

"Where the fuck is everyone?" he murmured and turned around again to look at the fence.  
  
It was shaking violently because Murphy wouldn't stop kicking and shaking it.

"Hello? Anybody? We're still over here, let us the fuck in!" he yelled and got more and more angry.  
  
It was pissing him off how they were getting so close to the safe zone all the time, but whenever it looked like they could almost touch the Prudential or any of the other buildings there were fences in their way.

"Eh yah fuckers, where the fuck are ye, let us in!"

"Murphy!" Connor shouted and grabbed his twin by his shoulders to get him away from the fence.

"There's walkers everywhere, do ye wanna attract another one af those herds?! Get a fuckin hold af yerself!"  
  
As if to emphasize this they could hear a very dangerous sounding growl coming from the bushes to their right.

"I fuckin know! But if they can hear us, then ye can bet yer ass that the military can hear us as well! Just look at this fuckin place over there, there's no walkers, no cars.."

"No nothing!" Connor interrupted his brother and pointed at the safe zone.

"They're not here anymore, maybe they took everyone to the cruise terminal, maybe they abandoned this section, maybe there's checkpoints further east, I don't fuckin know! As fer now we gotta concentrate and see how we're gonna get over this fuckin bridge without attracting another shitload af walkers to this place. And yer screamin ain't helpin any!"

Murphy growled and shook his brother off. He hated how right his twin was, and he hated how he could do absolutely _nothing_ about it. And now he was supposed to keep quiet and keep all the shit to himself? Keep it together? He just wanted to do what he could do best: fight his way out of it. Kick and yell at the fences until they gave in and fell down. He turned his back on his brother and headed back to the rails and the road right next to the interstate to see if there was a way out over there. When he got closer to the fence that was seperating Mass Pike from Ipswich Street a strange humming sound made him slow down.  
  
A moment later the bushes and trees on top of the southern wall started shaking. Murphy turned around to see where Connor was. His twin was busy checking the situation on the other side of the interstate, so the younger turned around again to look up at where he could see the trees shaking and heard that strange noise. He tried to get closer and frowned. For a moment he just stood there and watched. Just when he wanted to blame the wind and his paranoia a pair of bloody hands grabbed the fence on top of the wall and started shaking it.  
  
More and more hands came into view and did the same thing, and now that they came closer Murphy finally realised _what_ he was hearing. It wasn't just a strange humming sound, but another loud murmuring and groaning of a herd of walkers that was getting closer and closer. He could hear all sorts of footsteps. Clumsy, fast, dragging, but determined nevertheless. Soon all sorts of figures pressed their bodies and faces against the fence and started snapping at the younger MacManus, which made him walk backwards. He watched them in horror as they kept shaking and fighting the fence, trying to get their newest prey.

"Connor?" Murphy finally managed to say but his voice lacked strength and volume since he was absolutely terrified.  
  
He turned around to see where his brother was, but Connor was still fiddling about with something on the opposite wall and didn't seem to have noticed any of this. The darkhaired twin growled and turned around once more to look at that massive herd that was piling up on the fence that was shaking _violently_ now. He could watch it giving in under the enormous weight.

"Connor!" he yelled at the top of his lungs and finally got his brothers attention.   
  
The older twin looked up to see why his other half was screaming down the neighbourhood again, and when he saw what was going on he widened his eyes in shock. "Murph! Run!" he responded, but his screams were drowned out when the fence gave in with a loud metallic shriek and the herd rained down the wall like tin soldiers a kid was carelessly wiping off a table.


	11. The Wall

He didn't know what was worse - watching a giant herd of walkers coming and falling down the southern wall of the interstate like an unholy army of the undead, or running from them without knowing _where_ they were supposed to run. Bowker Overpass was completely locked down, and there was no way they could get over the fences. Once again they had to turn their backs on their only way out, their only hope that was the city center, and for the first time Connor actually doubted that they were ever going to get there. He saw Murphy running right in front of him, zigzagging his way through all the car wrecks and jumping over all sorts of luggage and thrash.

_Christ, when had the kid become so fucking agile? And why was he the first to feel that they weren't 20 anymore?_

Right now he hated to be the older brother. Minutes felt like decades right now.  
Or maybe he was just imagining things. Could you blame him right now?

Since the walkers were way slower than them Murphy pretty much outran any walker that emerged from the cars he passed on his way down the interstate, so it came down to Connor to kill them. It slowed him down so much that he feared that they could surround him and since Murphy kept running he also feared that he could lose his brother because of all this chaos surrounding them. He had told him to run, hadn't he? But still, why the _fuck_ had they chosen the interstate?!

"Murph! Murph, wait fer me!" the older MacManus yelled as he killed yet another walker, a female that was dressed in a doctor's overall.

He saw how Murphy turned around to look at him, and although Connor was glad to see that his twin was waiting for him pretty soon that sort of relief turned into pure horror when he saw a walker behind him. "MURPH! BEHIND YAH!" he yelled and shoved another walker away to run and help his brother. The dark haired twin gasped when a walker grabbed him from behind, but his instincts kicked in and he leaned forward, grabbed the undead by his arm and pulled him over his shoulder with an angry growl. When Connor finally reached him Murphy struck the walker down with a blow to his head. The blonde MacManus grabbed his younger half by his shoulders and looked at him in shock.

"Fuck, are ye alright? Did he bite you?" He felt Murphy's chest, arms and neck only to find nothing.

"No, but I found us a way out!" the other announced and pointed at the wall next to them.

They had run back a couple of hundred yards down the interstate, and the surrounding noise protection walls had gradually gotten lower so they could see what was on the other side. There was another street and a small passage between two houses led somewhere further north. "What?!" Connor shouted and frowned, then he turned around to look where the herd was.

He swallowed and wished that he hadn't looked at them. Because there were _many_. The older twin didn't know if it were just the cars that made them look like they were one giant crowd, but it sure looked like it were hundreds upon hundreds of them. What was even worse was that he could still see walkers raining down that wall where they had managed to break through. It just wouldn't stop.

 _Was the whole of freaking Boston coming after them now?_  
  
Murphy hit his shoulder and snapped him out of it.

"The fuckin wall! We climb over it and try to make our way back East further North! Sooner or later we just gotta find a way over there, christ, even if he have ta jump into the river!" the younger explained so fast that Connor could hardly get what his brother was saying.

And yet again they were practically yelling at each other, simply because they were panicking and the walkers were getting closer and so loud that they could hardly hear a thing apart from never ending miserable groans and terrifying snarls and squeals. Murphy suddenly put both his hands on Connor's shoulders and tried to get him to kneel.

"Hurry, gimme a boost!"

The blonde brother grunted, but did as he was told. He helped Murphy to climb up the wall, but couldn't keep the grunts and awkward noises to himself as he tried to keep his younger half steady.

"Christ, when did ye get so fuckin heavy?" he complained, and once Murphy was standing on the wall and clinging to the fence on top of it he turned his head to look back down at his brother and the walkers. He widened his eyes when he saw how close they really were. "Fuck! Give me yer hand! Hurry!"

Connor turned around to see why his twin was freaking out and reacted the exact same way when he saw why. "Jesus fuckin christ!" he exclaimed, pulled his gun and shot two walkers who were getting too close for his liking. "Connor!" Murphy shouted once again. Connor fiddled about with his machete and somewhat managed to stick it between his belt and jeans, then he threw his duffel over the fence and took his twins hand.

"Talking about fuckin heavy!" Murphy complained when he tried to get his older half on top of the wall and grunted because Christ, Connor was _heavy_.  
  
He turned his head again to check on the walkers only to see that there were about four cars away from them.

"Don't be such a fuckin baby and pull like a man!" the blonde twin yelled and tried to use his feet to climb up the wall.

"Where's yer fuckin rope when we need it, huh?!" Murphy countered and Connor rolled his eyes.

"Fuck ye, it's in me bag but we don't have time!"

Suddenly he slipped and almost pulled Murphy back down with him. The younger twin lost grip because their hands were too sweaty, so Connor fell back down and landed on his back and hit his head hard on the asphalt. For a moment all the air was pressed out of his lungs and he gasped in pain and surprise. It took him a second to focus again and when he did he saw how his brother was about to jump back down. "Don't!" he shouted and sat back up. Murphy froze and looked at him in horror.

Although his head was aching terribly from the fall he got back up and tried to climb up the wall once more. He could tell that the walkers were getting really close this time, and it would be a matter of seconds until they were there and ready to eat him. He did not dare turning around to look where they were, he just looked at Murphy instead and reached out for his hand. His twin leaned down and took it once more.

"Got yah!" Murphy shouted and pulled as hard as he could. For a second Connor just looked at their joined hands only to realized that it were the ones with their tattooed fingers, _Veritas_ and _Aequitas_. Despite the gravity of the situation and the panic it actually made him smile, because Christ, what a picture. Murphy pulled with all the strength he could gather, and this time Connor got enough grip to actually support him by pressing a foot against the wall. They had almost managed to get him on top when Connor almost fell again, but this time because a walker grabbed his leg.

The older MacManus yelped in surprise and tried to cling to his brother and the fence. A moment later he could feel the walker chewing on his shoe. He ended up screaming in terror and because it made him so angry. He wouldn't stop kicking the walker, and all his moving and struggling almost made Murphy fall down. He fought until he realized that they were getting nowhere and the younger MacManus couldn't keep them up there forever, so Connor glared at him.

"Let me go" he demanded and Murphy widened his eyes in shock.  
He saw more walkers coming and knew it was just a matter of seconds until they got close enough to sink their teeth in his brother.

"Are ye fuckin mental?! 'm not letting ye go!"

"Murph! Let me go! 'm just gonna pull ye down with me!" Connor yelled and kicked the walker once more, but the undead wouldn't stop chewing on his shoe.

"'m not letting you go!" Murphy yelled back and pulled once more. Connor kicked the walker at the exact same time, so they actually managed to get rid of him. Because the idea of just letting his own brother fall down and get eaten made the younger twin so angry it seemed to cause an extra adrenaline rush. He pulled as hard as he could and finally got his brother on top of the wall as well, and just before the other walkers reached it they climbed over the fence and fell down on the street on the other side.

For a moment they just lay next to each other ,panting and staring at the sky, then Murphy turned his head and glared at Connor. The older MacManus knew he did, but he didn't want to face his brother just yet. He stared at the sky and listened to the walkers on the other side of the wall.

 _Jesus Christ. He could have_ _**died.** _

  
He could hear and feel his heart pounding heavily in his chest, and pretty soon the headache came back. But he welcomed the feeling because it told him that he was still _alive._ He could be lying on the other side of that wall and watch his own guts getting eaten out of his belly for all he knew. _Thank you god. Thank you fer watching over us. Thank you._ He finally had the guts to look at Murphy, and when he did his twin did not waste a second and started punching and kicking him.

"Are ye fuckin stupid!" he yelled and boxed his brother's chest hard.

"How can you fuckin demand something like _this_!" he added and decided that it was easier to punch his brother whilst sitting on top of him.

"Calling me a fuckin baby and then giving up the second it gets a little fuckin chaotic!" he spat and punched his brother's face.  
  
Connor growled and tried to grab his arms.

"Murph.." he tried to reason with him, but his twin was far from done because he was so _angry_ at Connor for scaring the shit out of him like that.

"Don't fucking Murph me you asshole!" he yelled and was just about to punch him again when his older half finally managed to grab his arms and stop him.

"Murph. It's alright. 'm still here, okay? Jaysus, calm down. We made it, all right?"

He knew that this was Murphy's way of telling him that he was glad he was okay, that he had been scared to death and that he didn't want that anything happened to his brother, so he wasn't mad at his younger half for punching him. He squeezed his hands and patted them with a reassuring nod. Murphy glared at him for a moment, then he just growled and got up to see where the actually were. He could read _Kenmore Street_ on one of the lamp posts and pointed at it.

"Kenmore. T-station's gotta be close. It's my say fram now on, since yer so fuckin stupid and yer plans are shite. We're getting to the other side of te barricades underground. Otherwise we'll just pick up walkers at every fuckin barricade we find."

Connor sat up and placed a hand on the back of his aching head. He still hated the idea of roaming through dark tunnels with nothing but two machetes and some silly flashlights, but he had to admit that Murphy had got a point there.

"I like the idea af just jumping into the river and swimming to the other side more than running about in fucking dark tunnels underground" he murmured and got up.

Murphy just snorted.  
  
"Why, yer gonna be a baby about it?"

Connor growled and nudged him.  
  
"Fuck ye. Ye don't remember " _Creep_ "?"

Murphy rolled his eyes as they turned their backs on the interstate where the wall was still separating the walkers from them. For just a minute or two they could actually take a breath after all the chaos, because they could see any walkers on this side of the wall. They made their way down the street, away from the herd, towards another big intersection where yet another traffic jam was waiting for them.


	12. Citgo Sniper

The good thing about all the cars that were blocking both Kenmore Street and Commonwealth Ave was that they could hide behind them just fine. There was an old Ford Mondeo right in front of them, with its front completely crushed and cut in half by the northeast corner of the Commonwealth hotel to their left, and it was blocking half the street they were on.

Connor and Murphy approached the smoking car to have a look inside. There was blood on the windshield and seats, but they couldn't see anyone in there. The passenger door on the other side was open, so they figured that whoever had been driving that car had managed to get out. Both twins dropped back down and leaned against the vehicle for a bit, then they looked at each other.

"What's te plan now?" Murphy asked and Connor looked at him.

"I thought ye were planning shit now" he answered and snorted. Murphy rolled his eyes and hit his shoulder angrily.

"Shut up, now's nat the time ta play fuckin games. We gotta find the T station."

Connor got back up to have a look how bad the situation was. He could see lots of cars and buses standing all over the place, and when he turned his head to his left he saw the massive Citgo sign and the glass canopy bus shelter in the center of what he believed was Kenmore Square. He nudged his brother and pointed at it.

"Isn't that that new ugly bus station at Kenmore Square? And there, te fuckin Citgo sign! We've already been here, I remember seeing that sign."

Murphy got up to look at it. Then he nodded.

"Aye, I remember."

Connor looked at it as well.  
  
"Aye. 't was on the other side af this road I think."

"Guess we gotta.."

They both froze and stopped talking when they heard an all too familiar groan coming from the other side of the car. Both twins glared at each other and waited. They could hear the slow and tired dragging of feet on the other side which was accompanied by tired groans and moans. Connor placed a finger on his mouth and looked at his brother who frowned, then he got down and lay on the ground to have a look under the car. He could see one pair of bloody grey sneakers that were slowly making their way around the crashed vehicle. The older MacManus growled and got back up to look at his twin.

"Walker" he whispered and Murphy rolled his eyes.

"Jesus, give us a fuckin break..." he answered and grabbed his bowie knife.

Both twins tried to be as quiet as possible as they made their way around the car to sneak up on the walker, who turned out to be nothing but a teenaged boy with a baseball cap and baggy jeans. He had his back turned on them and seemed to be fixated on something on top of one of the buildings on the other side. The undead let out another exhausted moan, and when he finally noticed Murphy it was too late.

The younger MacManus grabbed the walker by his shoulder and stabbed the back of his head. When Murphy let go of him he dropped to the ground with a final gasp. The darkhaired twin looked ahead to see if there were any walkers down the road and when he turned around he breathed in sharply. Before he could even manage to say something someone hit his head with a metal pipe and knocked him out.

"Murph!" he heard his brother yell and saw him come out from behind the car, but for a moment he felt so dizzy and confused that he didn't really know what was going on. He hissed in pain and placed a hand on his left temple where it hurt the most, and when he looked at his fingertips he saw that there was blood.

"Ah, fuck!" he murmured and tried to sit back up, but his head was hurting like hell and everything was spinning. He saw Connor fighting with someone and yelling at them, and after a moment of trying to focus he could see them more clearly. He could see that his brother was standing behind a woman with long red hair that was fighting him madly, and all her screams were getting louder with every second Connor was holding her back. He tried to reason with her and calm her down, but she wouldn't stop kicking and screaming.

"Let me go! Get off me you filthy dead pricks, let me go! LET ME GO!"

Murphy squeezed his eyes shut for a moment and rubbed his aching forehead, then he leaned against the crashed car and tried to haul himself back up on his feet.

"Connor, shut her te fuck up!" he yelled and held his head once more because her screaming wasn't exactly making his headaches any better.

"'m fuckin tryin!" his brother spat and tried to keep the woman in place, but she wouldn't stop screaming. "We're not gonna hurt ye woman! We're not like 'em!"

Murphy turned his head to see if there were any walkers around, and much to his discomfort he could see a small group of them who had gotten interested in them already. He was pretty sure that everyone within half a mile could hear her, dead or not.

"Shut her up!" he yelled once more and tried to reach them. Connor placed a hand on the struggling woman's mouth to shut her up since all his talking was useless. When she bit it hard the older MacManus cursed and let go of her in the heat of the moment.

"Ah, are ye fuckin crazy?!" he spat and shook his aching hand. The redhaired woman used this very moment and grabbed the metal pipe she had dropped to the ground when Connor had grabbed her from behind. Murphy rushed to help his brother, and when the woman pointed the pipe at his head once more Connor pulled his gun and pointed it at her.

"Drop te fuckin pipe , lady, and calm te fuck down!" he demanded, but she just started laughing at them.

Murphy frowned and eyed her head to toe. She was wearing a tight white pantsuit that looked like it had cost a lot of money, only that it was now missing a sleeve and covered in blood. Her long, red curls were nothing but a mess and she had a nasty cut on her forehead. The woman was still laughing manically and grabbed the pipe with both her hands.

"You think you're clever, huh?! But I'm not buying this, acting like you're not one of _them_.   
But of course you are! You're not going to hurt me?"

She laughed even louder and nodded with an angry frown.

"Yeah, that's what they all said, next thing I know is that you're trying to fucking _eat_ me!   
But there's no way 'm gonna let this happen, you fuckers!"

She tried to get closer to Murphy and giggled.

"It's got to be the head, you know? That's what they said..."

She struck out and tried to hit the younger MacManus once more but missed.

"What te fuck, stop that ye fuckin bitch and open yer eyes!" Murphy snapped and she laughed once more.

She turned her head for a second to look at the walkers that were coming closer.

"And now you bring your friends, huh? Oh you try me, assholes, you just watch me."

The younger MacManus just glared at her whereas Connor tried to reason with her, and when she struck out once more Murphy widened his eyes at what he saw.

"Holy shit Conn, she got bit!"

The woman froze and looked at the bite wound on her arm, then she dropped the pipe with another fit of laughter.

"That's right, one of you lot tried to get a piece of me. And I blew his brains out, down at the terminal where.."

A loud gunshot knocked her off her feet and threw her against the crashed car to her right.   
Both twins startled and ducked down in shock.

"Holy shit!" Connor shouted and when Murphy wanted to say something as well they could hear another gunshot. A split second later a chunk of stone was catapulted out of the wall very close to the younger MacManus head. "Get down!" he yelled and they both ran back behind the car. Another bullet hit the rear window and caused the broken glass to rain down on them.

"Who te fuck's shooting at people who are _obviously_ alive?!" Connor yelled and tried to have another look. They could hear gunshots coming from somewhere left, and when the older MacManus looked through the windows of the car he saw a small figure standing on top of the building with the Citgo sign.

"This guy thinks he's in fuckin _Sniper_ or some shit like that!"

"What's he doing right now?" Murphy asked and Connor had another look.   
  
He could see whoever was shooting aiming somewhere east, and when he heard another gunshot he saw a walker dropping to the ground. He could see more walkers coming down the road, and they were all staggering in the shooter's direction.

"Shooting walkers. Jesus, he's making so much fuckin noise, he's drawing them all ta himself!"

"Well, good fer us!" the younger twin responded and Connor turned around again to look at his brother.

All the shooting and chaos had made him forget for a second, but now that he looked at his twin and saw all the blood running down his left temple he remembered.

"Are ye alright?" he asked and pointed at his twins head. Murphy snorted.

"'m gonna live. We got more important things ta do now, Connor. _What's the plan_?"

Connor looked at his brother for a little while longer and chewed on his lower lip, then he sighed and turned around again to see what was going stranger was still shooting at walkers who were getting closer and closer to the building he was standing on, to a point where the intersection in front of the MacManus twins actually looked clear.

"Okay, he's busy shooting _them_ , and _they_ are all interested in _him_ at the moment. So we just gotta grab our things, and zigzag our way to the other side of the street. 'm actually fuckin glad that there's so many cars this time, so we got some cover in case fuckin Rambo over there decides ta shoot at _us_ again."

Murphy nodded.

"Sounds like a good plan."

Connor snorted and looked at his brother.

"Fuck ye, af course it's a good plan. My plans are always good."

The younger twin rolled his eyes but didn't bother saying anything about that. He frowned when his brother opened his bag and got a small medkit they had found at the stadium.

"We gotta get rid of all that blood first. Fuckers smell that shit."

He ripped the package open with his teeth and started to clean his brother's wound. Murphy wanted to complain because he hated when his twin went all mother hen on him, but right now they had bigger problems. Suddenly he saw a faint bite wound on his brother's hand when he was bandaging his head. Murphy frowned.

"Conn?"

"Aye?" his twin responded absently because he was concentrating on the bandaging proccess.

"How are _you_ feeling?"

The older MacManus snorted.

"Well 'm feelin fine, she didn't knock _me_ out."

"No, but she bit ye."

Apart from the shooting and never ending groaning that was still going on behind them there was silence for a moment and Connor froze. A second later he resumed his work and snorted.

"Aye, but she wasn't one af them yet, Murph. She was still alive, she was one af us."

Murphy frowned and looked at his brother questioningly.

"But she was infected. A walker bit her. I saw it."

Connor was finally done bandaging his brother's head and looked at him.

"So fuckin what, 'm fine Murph. Let's not worry about that now. She was alive. 'm gonna be fine, we're gonna be fine. God's watchin over us, remember? Ye just gotta believe and it's fine, aye?"

The older MacManus got up and wiped his mouth.

"Besides, she didn't exactly break me skin, there ain't no blood, see?"

He showed his brother his hand where they could see the faint bite wound but no blood.   
Connor nudged his twin.

"Come on, we really gotta leave."

Only moments after they left their hideout the shooting resumed and rained down on them. It took them quite a while to get to the other side of the intersection because of all their hiding and ducking down, and when they reached the center of the road they finally realized that the unknown shooter wasn't exactly shooting at _them_ , but walkers who had been lurking behind the cars and coming dangerously close.

"Holy fuck, I think he's actually tryin ta help us!" Murphy, who was following his brother through the maze of broken down cars and bodies, murmured and tried to have a look at the mysterious shooter without running into his brother or a vehicle. All he could see was that the man was shooting some sort of rifle.

"Well I thought 't was fuckin weird that he hit tha woman and walkers full on but missed us" Connor answered and stopped to hide behind a truck and check the situation once more. He could see the entrance to the underground station from where he was standing, but also the big group of walkers that was piling up on the windows and doors of the building where the shooter was located.

"We gotta be real quiet and fast" he whispered and turned around to look at his brother.

Murphy moved to stand right next to him and have a look himself.

"Well, _fuck_ me" he murmured when he saw them too.

Both twins looked at each other for a moment and tried to gather strength and courage.   
Then, with a final reassuring nod they got up and started running.

No matter how hard they tried to remain undetected, they just ended up with a group of walkers getting interested in them instead of the shooter. They still didn't know how the walkers worked, whether they heard, saw or smelled potential victims first, but no matter how they did it, they would always end up following them and tracking them down. Very soon both Connor and Murphy couldn't go on they way they had done it the first couple of yards before. Now all they could do was run.

More and more walkers were turning around and looking at them, and it seemed like now that they could sense that there was fresh meat right in front of them instead of five stories above, they got more interested in the twins. Connor ended up cursing and running faster, and they were on their way down the stairs to the platforms when they realized that it was too late. Massive iron gates were blocking their only way out, their only way further down to the actual subway station. Both twins froze and shook the gate violently, and when they turned around to look back they had to realize that the walkers were on their way down the stairs already. There was no way out.

"Jesus, they're coming, what do we do?!" Murphy yelled and shook the gates once more, and so did Connor.

The brothers turned around once more only to see shadows on the wall, and the groans and snarls of the walkers were getting amplified because of the stone walls surrounding them. "What do we fuckin do Connor?!" the younger MacManus shouted once more to drown out all the terrifying groans that were getting louder and louder.

"Shut up, 'm trying ta figure it out!" Connor snapped and moved down the gate to find a door handle, a lock, anything. He did find the lock a couple of seconds later, but no matter how hard they kicked and shook the gate, it wouldn't give in.

"Well hurry te fuck up!" Murphy spat and started shaking the gate with an angry cry.

"I am!" Connor yelled and pulled his gun to shoot the lock. His brother startled and backed off, but when he turned around he saw the walkers entering the hall. "Run!" he shouted and did so, down the non-working escalators, into darkness. He froze and turned around in panic when he realized that Connor wasn't behind him.

"Connor!" he yelled and ran back, regardless of the whole stupidity of this action.

"'s alright Murph!" he heard his brother answer, and when he reached the top of the escalator he saw him standing there by the gate. He could see it shaking violently and there were all kinds of walkers piling up on it, only that somehow they couldn't get in. _But how was this possible?_ _Connor had just shot the lock, hadn't he?_ His brother turned around with a big grin on his face and stepped aside so Murphy could see.

"See? ' _Name one thing yer gonna need this stupid fuckin rope for'_ , aye?"


	13. Static Noise

It was the first time they could actually have a closer look at the walkers, now that there was an iron gate holding them back. They could see all sorts of people, women, men, old people, young people, and the most terrifying of them all: little children. Some of them had terrible bite wounds, deep and bloody, with guts hanging out of their bellies and chests. Others looked normal, with nothing but small bite wounds on their arms or legs. The herd was shaking the gate violently and tried to reach out for the MacManus twins, but their arms wouldn't fit through. Murphy looked down on the gate to get a closer look at what Connor had done. Somehow his twin had managed to tie it up with a rope.

"What the fuck" he murmured and looked back up. Connor grinned and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Well, we can be glad we learned all sorts of shit back in Ireland, don't ye think?"

He looked at the walkers and kicked the gate.

"Let's hope those fuckers are too stupid to untie it."

Murphy snorted and looked at the rope once more.

"I don't wanna wait and find out. Let's get the fuck outta here. They've managed to get everywhere so far, so shouldn't take 'em too long to get through this as well."

Connor looked at them and nodded.

"Aye. Guess yer right, brother."

Both twins turned around to make their way back to the escalators. For a moment they just stood in front of them and looked down.  
It was very dark with some emergency lights being the only light source. Murphy raised an eyebrow.

"Whose fuckin idea was this again?"

His twin chuckled and nudged him.

"Yers, why? You scared? It's either that or..."

He turned around and pointed at the walkers that were still piling up on the gate.  
Murphy rolled his eyes and grabbed his duffel bag to get a flashlight.

"No, thanks. Dark tunnel all the way through."

Connor searched for his flashlight as well and grinned.

"Aye! Now that's the spirit!"

* * *

Once again the smell was way worse than the darkness. They could still hear the walkers that were fighting the gate, but right now those were the least of their problems. The twins had learned by now that darkness and smell were never a good sign, and they expected more walkers to be down at the platform than there were up in the entrance hall.

"I swear ta god if there's a shitload of those things down here then I'm gonna fuckin quit." Murphy whispered and sighed angrily.

The whole running and hiding thing was starting to exhaust him, and all he wanted was some luck for once.  
Connor, who was walking in front of him with the flashlight pointed at whatever was in front of them, snickered and turned around.

"Well, we managed ta get here, so technically speaking we've been lucky so far."

The younger MacManus growled.

"Eunice fuckin died, ye moron. You nearly got eaten by walkers back on the interstate, then some crazy chick attacked us, knocked me out with a pipe, bit ye and got shot. How's that lucky?!"

"Speaking of which, how do you think that guy's doing up there? Don't ye think we should've tried ta help 'im?"

Murphy snorted.

"I think the guy's just fine up there with his shootin."

They didn't speak anymore when they reached ground level.

"Oh my god" Connor murmured, but didn't know what else to say because the sight made him speechless. The source of the terrible stench was nothing but a pile of rotting bodies on the ground. For a moment they just stood there perfectly still and looked at the mess in front of them.

"Jesus" Murphy said, grabbed his machete and turned one of the bodies around.

It was an old man with broken glasses and several gunshots to his chest. His clothes were stained with blood where the bullets had hit him.

"Fuck, I really hope they aren't walkers or else we're fucked" he whispered and stared at the man to his feet.

"One way ta find out" Connor answered and took a deep breath. He took a few steps back and grabbed his machete as well.

"Hello? Anyone here?" he yelled as loud as he could and listened up.

Murphy held his breath in both surprise and fear, and they waited several minutes only to hear nothing. None of the bodies were moving, and apart from the noise and gunshots upstairs they couldn't hear anything. The older MacManus got back down and scratched the back of his neck.

"Well looks like they're all dead."

Murphy looked at all the bodies that were lying on the ground.  
Women, men, kids, wearing backpacks and clinging to suitcases, but no one would move.

"If that isn't some seriously fucked up shit" the younger murmured and made his way down the platform.

He tried not to step on anyone, but it was rather hard to do so since the whole ground was covered with dead bodies.  
Murphy groaned and pulled his shirt up so it covered his mouth and nose.

"Fuckin disgusting" he complained and Connor covered his mouth with a nod.

"Yer making a habit outta that. Still, be careful" he reminded his twin.

Apart from all the bodies they could see all sorts of luggage and blankets lying on the ground, including water bottles, food wrappers and medical waste. Further down the rails they could see an abandoned train. What was even more surprising was that its lights were still on. The windshield was broken and there was blood on it. Both twins looked at each other and frowned.

"Looks like they used this station as temporary camp or something. Maybe they used trains ta get people to the evacuation centers? The boats?" the older suggested.

Murphy frowned and knelt down to search one of the many bags and suitcases for any clues.  
Connor walked up to one of the many signs to read what was written there.

"Aye, they're writing about that here. Evacuation..Black Falcon Cruise Terminal...looks like Eunice was right after all."

He turned around to look at the bodies once more.

"Looks like shit went wrong. Maybe one of those people was infected and all hell broke loose. Military shot them, fled..and tha's it."

The blonde twin shook his head and sighed.

"Still, that's some seriously fucked up shit man."

Murphy was still busy searching one of the bodies that wasn't _that_ decomposed and rotten yet.  
Then he turned around with a frown and looked at the bodies surrounding them.

"I think they shot everyone, even people who weren't infected" he stated and Connor frowned.

"What?"

The younger nodded and pointed at a blonde woman who had been shot in the chest.

"Just look at them. Most of them didn't die fram headshots. And this one ain't got no bite wounds. They died because they were shot in the neck, or chest... That was a fuckin massacre here."

Connor knelt down to look at them as well.

"Jesus. There's fuckin kids here, man."

He shook his head and sighed.

"Well, maybe they _had_ ta evacuate. Maybe there was mass hysteria going on. I mean just look what te fuck happened up there. There's too many walkers up there. Maybe they all left this place in a hurry cos it was getting too dangerous."

Murphy snorted and got up to search his pockets for a smoke and a lighter.

"Or they all ended up dead somewhere down those tunnels."

Connor growled and got up as well.

"What the fuck's yer problem all of the sudden? 't was yer idea ta go down here, and 't was yer idea to get to the fuckin harbor."

Murphy blew out some smoke and sighed.

"Aye, it's just...we've been outta our apartment fer hours now and came across two living people in total. One of them being a complete fuckin nutter. Besides, she was trying ta tell us something about the terminal when that sniper shot her. And now look at this place. Dead bodies fuckin everywhere, the stadium, the train station, everyone's dead dead dead.. 't's just..bugging me Connor. Where the fuck is everyone?"

He rubbed his aching forehead and took a deep breath.

"'m just tired. That's all."

The blonde twin sighed and grabbed a smoke as well.

"Aye, myself as well."

They went back to the escalator to sit down and rest for a moment. It was getting quieter upstairs, and since they could still hear the shooting they figured that the walkers had lost interest in them and headed back up to get the mysterious sniper instead. Connor listened up and blew out some smoke.

"Sounds like they're leavin" he murmured and Murphy looked up at the ceiling.

He nodded and threw his cigarette to the ground to put it out.

"Aye."

"You still want us to make our way underground? Even if there could be crashed trains and all that shit?"

The younger twin nodded and reloaded his guns.

"There's no way we're going back up there. I think we stand a pretty good chance that there aren't any blockades down those tunnels. Maybe other people made it with the T. I mean, someone must've shot all those people, and ye bet 't were more than two people slaughtering a crowd like that. Judging by the holes I'd say 't was military. There's gotta be someone. Maybe they just tried ta prevent another outbreak on the other side of the blockades, so they shot everyone suspicious and locked te whole place down."

Connor threw his cigarette away and grabbed his Berettas as well.

"Aye, good thinking. I don't think they locked this place up fer nothin."

He frowned after a moment of thinking about everything he had just heard.

"Since when are ye the one coming up with shit?"

Murphy was just about to answer when static noise echoed through the hall and interrupted them.   
Both twins looked up in surprise and tried to make out its source. A minute later the noise resumed.

"I think it's coming from the train" Connor observed and got up.

They listened up for a moment, and the static noise and cracking could be heard once more.  
The brothers looked at each other questioningly, and without speaking a word they nodded and made their way to the train.

It took them longer because they still had to watch their step and keep an eye on all the dead people on the ground. After climbing over bodies and balancing their way to the other side of the platform they finally reached the silver train that was parked at the very end of the tunnel. Its lights were still on and all the doors were open. Connor was the first to peak around the corner, and it didn't surprise him when he found even more bodies inside. Murphy was right behind him and startled when his brother raised his voice again. He cursed and hit his shoulder angrily.

"Are ye fuckin crazy?! Nearly had a fuckin heart attack!"

No matter how dangerous and serious the whole situation was, the older twin couldn't help but chuckle a bit.  
He loved whenever he managed to scare the shit out of his younger half.

"This isn't funny ye asshole!" Murphy whisper-shouted and urged his brother to walk ahead.

They could still hear the static noise as they made their way to the driver's cab, and when they got closer they could hear that there was someone talking.

" _Cit...o...way..c..n_ "

Both twins froze and tried to understand what was being said.

" _Cit...o...enway..more..c...in._ "

The brothers looked at each other and started walking again.

" _Citgo..o...way...Kenmore..c..in._ "

"I think it's that dude from the Citgo sign!" Connor said and started walking faster.

When they reached the door that led to driver's cab he placed a hand on the door handle.

"'s coming from inside..." Murphy said and startled when someone hit the door with bloody hands.

Connor backed off and bumped into his brother.

"Jesus fuckin christ!" he shouted and took a deep breath. He could see a walker on the other side of the door, right where the radio was. The man was hammering his fists against the glass window and covered it with blood. He was also pressing his face against the window pane and tried to bite them. His eyes were wide open and his face covered in blood.

" _Citgo to Fenway-Kenmore, Citgo to Fenway-Kenmore, come in_."

They could hear it all too clearly now. There was a man speaking to them over the radio.

"Jesus Conn, it's gotta be that sniper guy" Murphy said and nudged his brother.

Connor just watched the walker on the other side of the door. The creature was getting madder with every second they just stared at each other, and he wouldn't stop banging his fists and head against the windowpane.

"Just shoot the fucker and get in!" Murphy demanded and Connor turned around.

"I can't just fuckin shoot that idiot. What if that bullet goes straight through and hits some shit in that cabin, we can't risk that. Maybe we can use that train."

Murphy raised both his eyebrows and snorted.

"What are yah, insane? You know how ta drive a fuckin subway train?"

"Can't be that hard, cannit?"

Connor turned his head again to look at the walker. After a moment of thinking he put his gun away and grabbed his machete instead.

"Murph, get back and hide next to the door" he demanded and his twin frowned.

"What are ye gonna do?"

"Open the door"

"What?!" the younger yelled, but couldn't say anything else because his brother grabbed the door handle and opened the door. Murphy cursed and jumped to hide right next to it. The walker stumbled forward and nearly fell on top of Connor, who walked backwards and started yelling at him. "Come on! Come on and get me, motherfucker! 'm nice and tasty! Come at me!" he shouted and looked at his brother, whom the walker had passed without looking at him at all. He was so fixated on Connor and all his yelling that he seemed completely unaware of the other twin who was right behind him.

"Come on! NOW!" the blonde twin yelled and Murphy hit the back of the walker's head with his machete.

The undead groaned and fell to the ground.

" _Citgo to Fenway-Kenmore, Citgo to Fenway-Kenmore, come in_ " they could hear it again and looked up.

"Well, I think someone's waitin" the older brother said, hit his brother's chest and approached the driver's cab with his raised weapon.  
He entered the room carefully, and once he had made sure that there was no one else in there he put his machete away and sighed.

"Clear" he said and Murphy entered as well.

" _Citgo to Fenway-Kenmore, Citgo to Fenway-Kenmore, come in._ "

Connor looked at the radio-handset and frowned.

"Fuckin answer it already, man!" his younger half demanded and Connor growled.

"Shut it and keep watch!"

He sat down on the seat and grabbed the handset.

"How does that work?" he asked and pressed a few buttons.

"I don't know, just..press somethin and talk."

Connor grinned.

"I've always wanted t'do that."

Murphy hit the back of his head, which made him growl once more.

"Alright. Jesus. This is Fenway-Kenmore, I repeat this is Fenway-Kenmore, we can hear ye loud and clear."

He grinned even more and added an excited "Over."

" _Cit...Jesus, Bill! I've been tryin t'talk to yah folks for days! You... you gotta get us outta here, man. We need someone to evacuate the building. Ever since fuckin Mike decided to shoot walkers and help some crazies down the street, walkers've been piling up on our doors and windows. How are the trains? Can we leave this goddamn place? When yah sent me over here yah didn't say anything about fucking **days**!_ "

Connor looked at his brother in surprise.

"I think this guy's got no idea what happened here."

" _Bill? Come on buddy, don't hang up on me now, there's lives at stake here! Yah promised you'd get us outta here!_ "

Murphy bit his lip and looked at the handset in his brother's hand. Connor sighed.

"Well, what do we tell them?"

His younger half sighed and rubbed his forehead. Then he put his hands on his hips and shrugged.

"Te truth, I guess."

" _Bill? Bill! Come on, they're tryin to fuckin get in, I've got kids in here, Mike's running out of ammo, fuckin.._ "

"Sorry, but this isn't Bill. We're...looks like we're the crazies yer friend backed up. Me name's Connor.   
It's just me and my brother Murph down here."

There was silence for a while and both twins looked at each other questioningly.

" _What the fuck are yah talking bout, who let you two take over the radio? Where the fuck's Bill? Is this Kenmore station? The emergency pick up point?_ "

Connor leaned forward to look out of the window. He could see the platform from where he was sitting, and he could see all the bodies they had just passed.  
He saw the green and white sign and read "KENMORE".

"Aye, this is Kenmore station. And we're on a train. But there's no one here."

He looked at his twin.

"Should I tell him 'bout te bodies?"

Murphy shook his head.

"Not just yet."

Connor nodded and spoke into the receiver again.

"There's no military here" he added, which wasn't exactly lying since they had seen no soldiers or anyone that looked like they were part of the military.

" _What the fuck?! Where are they?! They were supposed t'get us outta here. Days ago! I've got a building full of people here!_ "

The older MacManus growled and put the device away for a moment. He covered his eyes with both his hands and rubbed them nervously.

"Jesus fuckin Christ."

" _Collin? Yah still there?_ "

Connor shook his head and took a deep breath. Murphy watched him for a moment and shifted.

"We gotta help them, Connor" he said quietly and his twin looked up.

"I know we gotta fuckin help them. It's our fault they got all those walkers surrounding them now."

He took the handset again.

"It's Connor. We're still here, brother."

" _Good. Cos I wanna know what happened down there, and I want assistance right. fuckin. now...No Patricia, it ain't Bill. It's some other guys._ "

Connor looked out of the window again and swallowed.

"Well..the whole place was locked up with iron gates when we came in here..and..well..looks like they shot people. There's a shitload of bodies down here. And all the trains are gone. It's just one train left."

" _Just one..Jesus, Patricia, what is it now?!_ " they could hear the other man yell.

" _Be right...HOLY SHIT_ "

Both twins startled when they could hear loud screams and noise coming over the radio. Connor widened his eyes and looked at his brother in shock. Murphy seemed just as surprised. For a moment they could hear all sorts of screams, gunshots and noises.

"Citgo? Citgo! This is Kenmore, come on, what's going on?"

He let go of the button and could hear terrifying screams and groans. Connor was still looking at his brother in shock.

"Citgo, this is Kenmore, tell us how many are there, we are coming t'help, what is yer exact location?!"

More screams and loud bangs. A second later they could hear static noise.

" _H..h..hello?_ "

Connor got up and grabbed the handset tight.

"Aye! This is Connor and Murphy! Tell us how many there are! Just hold on, we're comin!"

He looked up at Murphy and pointed at their bags.

"Get the guns and knives ready! Then grab the bags!"

" _T...t..they got Andrew...they're everywhere. They...they...g..got everyone. I'm all that's...that's left_ " they could hear a woman cry.

Another couple of loud bangs and screams could be heard, and the woman started screaming as well.

" _Oh my god they're coming!_ " she yelled and started screaming again.

Murphy handed Connor two new magazines in a hurry and put his bag back on.

"Just stay calm, we're comin t'get ye. What's yer name, where are ye?"

" _P...Patricia...I grabbed ..grabbed the walkie and hid in the closet._ "

The woman started crying and screaming again.

" _I don't wanna die.._ "

The younger twin helped his brother with his bag and turned around to run ahead.

"It's okay, Patricia! We're on our way..we're..."

Suddenly he could hear another loud bang and bone-chilling screams.

" _Help me! No! Oh god, please, no!_ "

Then the broadcast cut off abruptly. Murphy stopped in his tracks and turned around to look at his brother, who was still standing inside the driver's cab.

"Patricia?"

Static noise.

"Patricia!"

Static noise.

"Andrew? Mike? Citgo? Anyone?"

Static noise.


	14. Hope

"Kenmore to Citgo. Kenmore to Citgo, please come in."

His brother was repeating it over again. Murphy just sat there on one of the many seats close to the driver's cab and listened to his brother's words that were getting interrupted by static noise every single time he let go of the speaker button. They had been trying for over 10 minutes now. The younger twin was balancing a cigarette between his fingers and watched the ash fall down.

"Kenmore to Citgo, Kenmore to Citgo, please come in. This is Connor. Patricia, are ye there?"

Murphy sighed and rubbed the sides of his nose tiredly.

"Kenmore to.."

"Connor, they're fuckin dead, okay?!" he shouted and glared at his brother.

Connor, who was sitting on the driver's seat, turned around and glared back at him.   
They just looked at each other like that and didn't even need any words.

_Stop it now. It's useless.  
It's so fucking unfair._

Connor growled and threw the handset away. He leaned forward and rested his arms on the console, then he grabbed his hair with both his hands and stared down at all the switches and buttons. Murphy looked at his brother for moment, then he turned his head again and stared at the ground. They didn't speak for a very long while and gave in to their thoughts.

The younger just thought about everything that had happened to them today, all the death they had seen. So many people had died today that this group didn't even really matter anymore. Everything was dying, everything was just _gone_. Connor, however, could feel the guilt eating him up. He remembered Mrs  Tatcher, all the bodies in the stadium, the baby on the interstate, the woman who had been shot in front of their eyes.

He looked up and saw all the people who had been shot on the platform, and now he remembered how scared Patricia had sounded. He had listened to her dying. And part of him couldn't help but blame himself. Because they had been the ones that had caused that sniper guy to shoot and attract all the walkers to that group's hideout.

For the first time today he had felt a spark of hope when he had seen that man on the roof and heard the other man's voice over the radio. He had been glad  
and relieved that there had been people out there, living, breathing people, so close by. And now they were all dead. And once again it was just him and Murphy. He leaned back and wiped his face tiredly. When he let his hand drop again he saw the faint bite wound on it and rubbed it absently.

He hadn't really thought about it yet. What this could mean. It were bites that turned people after all. But was he turning? He didn't feel any different. He shook his hand and clenched it to a fist. There was _no way_ he was turning. Because he wouldn't let that happen. No matter how many people had died today and how lonely they felt  right now, there was no way he would die as well. _He_ wouldn't leave Murphy alone. He turned his head to look at his brother. His younger  half was sitting there with his hands in his pockets and a smoke in his mouth and stared at the ground.

 _There's no way I'm leaving you alone here,_ he thought again and took a deep breath.

"All right. Let's see how this fuckin train works. Better get going before those fuckers up there decide ta go after us again."

His brother turned his head to look at him with a frown.

"Ye really wanna drive a fuckin subway train."

Connor turned around and tried to press a few buttons.

"It's gotta be the green ones. Traffic lights go green when yer sapposed ta start driving, don't they?"

He pressed all the green buttons but nothing would happen. Murphy entered the cab as well and pointed at another button.

"Try that one there."

Connor did as he was told and both twins startled when they heard a loud ringing coming from the train.

"Jesus!" Murphy exclaimed and looked out of the window to see if any of the bodies were moving because of the noise.

Both twins didn't move for a moment, then Connor snorted.   
His brother growled and hit his shoulder.

"Stop laughing and hurry up."

The blonde twin pressed another bunch of buttons and moved the levelers up and down, but the train wouldn't move. When he hit another button the lights went out and they both gasped in surprise. It was pitch black. "Turn it back on! Fuck, turn it back on!" Murphy demanded and hit his brother's shoulder multiple times until Connor pressed the button and the lights came back to life. They both took a deep breath.

"Fuuuck me" the older twin murmured and sighed.

"Well looks like it ain't movin. Maybe that's the reason it's still here."

He pressed the buttons once more and Murphy nodded.   
The dark haired brother turned around to look at all the bodies on the platform and inside the train.

"Maybe that's why everyone panicked and got shot. Maybe all the other trains were full and leavin, and those people freaked out."

Connor scratched his cheek and nodded after a while.

"Aye, could be."

He got up and sighed.

"Guess we'll have ta walk then."

* * *

They were standing in front of one of the many maps that showed all the subway lines and stations.   
Connor pointed at Hynes station.

"We could either try ta go back up there, or walk fer a little while longer til Boylston. Depending how things are down those tunnels."

Murphy nodded.

"Aye, here's te Pru, should be far enough fram all the blockades and walkers."

Connor knelt down to search his duffel.

"Gonna put an extra pair of batteries in our pockets in case our flashlights stop workin."

He opened one of the packs they had taken with them and handed his brother a couple of batteries.

"Check yer guns once more and make sure yer machete's within reach. We don't know how fucked up things are in there."

Murphy nodded and did as he was told. Instead of making their way back on the platform, both twins jumped down on the tracks in front of the train. Connor knelt down to check if there were any walkers underneath it, but they were all by themselves. The older twin got back up and shrugged. "Clear" he murmured and started walking towards the tunnel that led them further east.

Once they reached the very end of the station both twins put their flashlights back on and pointed at the dark tunnel. They checked the rails and walls for any blood, body parts or walkers but didn't find anything. Connor and Murphy turned their heads and looked at each other. The younger sighed and scratched his nose.

"Ladies first" Connor said and grinned. Murphy growled and tried to kick his leg.

"Fuck ye, more like scared bedwetters last, asshole!"

He took a deep breath and entered the dark tunnel. Connor turned around to look at Kenmore station one more time. The headlights of the train were blinding him, so he shielded his eyes and took a look around once more just to make sure that they really were alone and that no one was following them.

"Ye coming or what? 's poor little Connor scared af the dark now?" he heard Murphy's voice echo through the dark tunnels and turned around to look at his brother. His twin was waiting a couple of meters down the rails. The blonde growled and entered the tunnel as well.

"Fuck ye, who was yellin "turn it back on!" like a scared little girl when I turned out the lights"

He caught up with his brother and lit a smoke as they made their way further down the tunnel.   
Connor looked up after a while and pointed his flashlight at the ceiling and walls.

"Christ, fuckin _trains_ fit in here?"

Murphy chuckled and looked at his brother.  
  
"What, first yer scared af the dark and now yer claustrophobic? 36 years and 'm learning all sorts af new shit about ye, brother."

Connor hit his shoulder and growled.  
  
"Fuck ye, I ain't fuckin claustrophobic. We've been inside elevators and air shafts and I didn't say shit!   
I've just never seen a fuckin subway tunnel up close, okay?"

Murphy snickered and grinned. He loved how easy it was to annoy Connor, how much his brother hated to be called names.  
It was a nice contrast to all the shit that was happening right now, and he enjoyed that he wasn't the one being picked on for once.

"Speaking af which, reminds me an awful lot of our trip down the air shafts at the Copley" Connor added and Murphy nodded.

"Aye. Yer right."

For a while they just kept walking and the younger thought about that night. Their first job. The first time they had killed people as "the Saints". He missed those times. He had been looking forward to doing that again after breaking out of prison. He sighed when he remembered that it was unlikely to happen again. He remembered what Boston had used to be like, crowded with people, good and bad. All their friends and enemies. Right now he missed them _all_. Including all those evil bastards. He just missed people in general.

"Remember Roc's face when he discovered that it was us who killed all those fuckers that night?"he asked and looked at his brother.  
  
Connor was still looking straight ahead, but after a moment he started grinning and laughing.

"Aye. Aye, I do."

They both started laughing at the memory.

"Fuckin Rocco" Connor said and laughed even more.  
  
Pretty soon the tunnel was filled with their laughter as they shared their favourite Rocco stories with arms wrapped around each other and stopping every once in a while because they were out of breath due to all their laughing. For just a minute or two they forgot about all the chaos that was going on, because it was just the two of them, surrounded by nothing but walls and darkness.   
  
They felt safe, but it wouldn't last long. Every once in a while they could hear some distant banging down the tunnels, like someone was trying to remind them forcefully that they weren't save at all. Connor, who still had his arm wrapped around his twins shoulder, slowly recovered from his fit of laughter and sighed.

"Fuckin Rocco" he said again and fell quiet. Murphy took a deep breath.

"I miss him, man" he admitted and felt how his brother looked at him.   
  
The younger didn't want to look his twin in the eye though. He just kept an eye on the tracks.

"And Rome. And Da."

Connor pressed his lips together and looked away. He still hated to talk about their father. All their life they had been waiting for this man. Then they had been given 10 wonderful years with the old man, who'd had his inner demons, but who had been a loving father nevertheless. He felt a deep pain in his chest and sighed.

"Aye. Me too, Murph."

He kicked a stone away and let go of his brother.

"On the bright side, at least they don't have ta live through all this shit now. Getting eaten by walkers like Eunice, Smecker, Duff and Dolly. They're with the lord."

Murphy snorted.  
  
"So dying because of some mobsters shootin them's so much better?"

Connor glared at him and gritted his teeth. He considered yelling at his brother for bringing _this_ up all the time, but he didn't want to destroy everything.

"Aye. It is" he just said and fell quiet.

His younger half switched hands so he held the flashlight with his left hand.

"Ye think Ma's dead as well?"

Connor growled and looked at his brother.  
  
"Do we really need ta talk about this now? Christ, way ta spoil the mood, Murph."

"I was just thinking bout it" Murphy murmured and looked down. He didn't want to get into a fight as well, so he just let it go.  
  
Connor looked at his brother from time to time. Once again he hated to see the kid upset, so he nudged him.

"I bet she's gonna be just fine. You fuckin know what she's like. She's a MacManus. I mean look at us, we're still alive, so you bet _that_ woman's still alive. She survived us, she's just _got_ to survive a bunch of dead brainless people. "

Murphy smirked when he remembered his mother, all the things she had done.   
He had always admired her strength.

"Aye."

Connor nodded.

"Besides, if there really are some boats, then maybe they're takin us back ta Europe. Remember what they said on te news? That the French were working on a cure? Maybe it isn't so bad over there. And remember, Ireland's an island. Maybe they don't have any infected there at all. Could be. We'll just have ta wait and.."

He was interrupted when all the lights began to flicker and came to life.   
Connor and Murphy stopped walking and looked at the small and dim lights in surprise.

"Fuck me" Connor murmured and turned around.

He stared at all the lamps. Murphy did the same and turned his head to look at his brother.   
Connor started grinning at him.

"See! Do ye fuckin see that? Maybe it really isn't so bad after all!"

The younger started grinning as well. Connor laughed and nudged his brother.

"Guess ye were right with yer plan. Good idea ta leave the apartment."

They started walking again and somewhat expected a train or some people to come, but nothing would happen. They were still alone, it was still silent, but they welcomed the light. Somehow it made them feel more secure. Because light meant electricity, and electricity meant working power plants. Power plants that were being controlled by _living_ people. The tunnel soon split into two separate tunnels, and after contemplating and arguing the twins agreed on taking the right one. The lights were still on and they kept walking, following the tunnel, hoping that they would come across other people and an exit soon.


	15. Prudential Center

"How did we end up underneath te fucking Pru?" Murphy asked and stared at the green sign on the wall.  
  
The twins had finally reached the next subway station after ten minutes of making their way through dark and musty tunnels. The younger brother remembered that their plan had been to make it to Hynes station or Boylston station, but somehow, after taking the wrong tunnel or whatever, they had reached Prudential Station, which was further south. Connor walked past his twin to have a look at one of the many maps.

"Well, on the bright side, we're still on the right side af the blockades. And closer to the harbor. Let's just hope that there really aren't any walkers up there."

He turned around to have a closer look at the platforms and tracks. They couldn't see any walkers or people down here, and after keeping quiet for a bit to make sure that they couldn't hear anyone they came to the conclusion that they were alone. Again. It was surreal to see an abandoned T- station. There were no people, no trains, no animals, no corpses, no walkers, nothing. All they could hear was the wind humming and blowing through the abandoned tunnels. Connor put a hand on his brother's shoulder and squeezed.

"Come on, let's get back up and see what's going on. We're closer to the city center. There's gotta be people somewhere."

He started walking and heard Murphy snort.

"Aye, people, or a shitload of walkers. Why don't we just stay down here, make our way through the tunnels?"

They found the stairs and followed them.

"It's gettin dark out there, it's past eight, and I'm fucking wasted after everything that's happened taday. I think we should find a place t'crash and work on a plan. How we can get to the terminal safely. I don't wanna stay underground. Fucking tunnels make me feel paranoid. What if we really come across walkers down here? We'd be screwed."

They reached the top of the stairs and found themselves in a hallway with even more signs and maps.   
Connor took another look and pointed at one of them.

"Prudential Center. What do you say? Shopping center. I bet all the doors are locked, shouldn't be any walkers in there. If we're lucky. We could look fer a small shop, barricade the doors and hide there fer a bit. And all the free food's gotta be a bonus, don't ye think?"

Murphy shrugged.

"Yer the one doing the planning. I say we should stay down here."

"And what about the lights? We don't know how long they're gonna keep the power plants running. Total blackout and we'd be sittin here in complete darkness."

Murphy growled and followed his brother further up the stairs.

"Just cos yer a fuckin wimp."

They followed the stairs and corridors until they reached the escalators which led back up to street level. Once again they felt slightly uneasy because of the lack of voices and sounds. Not hearing any moans and the dragging of feet was a good thing of course, not hearing any chattering in such a shopping hall in the middle of the city was strangely surreal.Something they weren't used to at all. Back in the old days, when they had been young and just moved to Boston, they had spent weeks complaining about how noisy the city was. Sometimes they had wished that they could go back to their small village in Ireland just to escape all the noise. Now they just wanted it back.

They walked up the stairs between the escalators in silence, simply because they had no idea how many walkers where out on the streets and they didn't want to attract them. Murphy was the first to reach ground level. The first thing he noticed was a poster of the American flag which was hanging in the top right corner. It made him snort.

 _What was it worth now? Was this still America? Right now it felt like the United States of the Walking Dead._ They had seen three living people today, heard another bunch of people die. Maybe five to ten living people against about a thousand walking dead people. He wondered how many people where still out there, if it really was a global thing.

The younger twin turned the corner and cursed in surprise when he saw his reflection in the windows opposite him. He was pointing his gun at it and stared at it for a moment. It was pretty much dark outside and only a couple of street lamps were still working. Apart from his own reflection and the one of his brother, who was standing behind him now, he couldn't see anyone outside. There were a couple of abandoned cars standing on the road, with their doors wide open. He could see bits of papers flying around in the wind , but there was no living soul outside. He couldn't see anyone at least.

Murphy stared at his reflection and was surprised at what he saw, what he looked like. There were blood stains and dirt everywhere, covering his face, his clothes, everything. His eyes were wide open and he was shaking because of the exhaustion and fear, and for a second he had believed to have seen himself as a walker. He startled when Connor placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on, looks like there aren't any walkers out there. We'll go upstairs and try ta get a better look from up there. At least we don't see any walkers right now."

Murphy snorted and put his gun away to get his machete instead.

"Yeah, ye know what I see? Fuckin windows all over the place."

Connor frowned.

"So?"

"Maybe there aren't any walkers here fer now, but when they come then it will be easy fer them to make it through this shit. All they gotta do is push and push, won't take a lot to make it break."

Connor snorted and approached the door that led outside to check if it was open.  
He started shaking and kicking it but it wouldn't open.

"Looks like they locked this place up fer good. This is a fuckin shopping center, Murph.People designed those doors'n windows so no one gets in and steals their stuff so easily."

Murphy walked up to the windows and started kicking and hitting them with his machete to check them himself.

"Yeah, but yah bet that they haven't tested them fer a herd of hungry flesh-eating lame brains like the one we saw back at Mass Pike."

Connor growled and turned to face his brother.

"So what is yer fuckin plan then, huh? Keep walking underground? Rely on fuckin electricity and a bunch of flashlights? It is gettin dark outside, and you bet those things ain't fucking sleeping. Fer what I've seen, I think they work through hearing and smelling, and we're dependent on sight. No matter how dumb those fuckers are, they stand a pretty good chance against us at night. There may be glass everywhere, a lot of windows and doors and space, but at least it's locked up. And those fuckers don't know we're in here. As soon as it's day we'll get te fuck outta here, cos we gotta get to the terminal, I give you that, but if we're just gonna run out there like headless chicken and rely on fuckin possibilities that might not be true, then we might as well just fuckin shoot ourselves!" Connor yelled and glared at his twin. "'m tryin to fuckin keep us alive, so quit it with yer fucking negative attitude and bitching!"

Murphy shoved him hard.

"What do ye think 'm trying to do here? You don't think 'm trying to keep us alive?!"

Connor just stared at his twin for a moment and sighed gently. He put his hands on his hips and shifted.

"Okay. Alright. Let's just...stop this shit. This whole thing's fuckin with us. Let's...let's just stop fighting. All we got is each other here."

Murphy frowned and looked back at his twin. He was still mad at Connor because of all his stupid plans, but then he figured that his brother was right. He walked past him and approached the other door which seemed to separate the T-Station from the actual shopping center.

"Let's get going, we don't have ta stand here in front of those fuckin windows like we're ready to eat fer those fuckers."

He grabbed the door handle and pulled but the door was locked as well.

"Oh Jesus, of course it's locked" the dark haired twin growled and looked at his brother.

Connor came closer and started shaking the door as well.

"Huh, we break it and it would be easy fer the walkers to get in, too" he murmured and turned around to have a look behind them.

"There's an elevator, maybe it's still working leads up there" he said and approached it.

"Fuck it" Murphy answered, pulled his gun and shot the bottom glass of the door. Connor turned around and stared at the hole in disbelief.

"Are you fuckin stupid?!"

His brother used the hilt of his machete to make the hole even bigger. Not only was it the hole itself which worried Connor about, but also the noise his brother was making. The shattering of glass echoed through the empty halls for several minutes then Murphy stopped.

"Looks like I got us a way in" he announced, looked at his brother and turned around to step through.

"Come on! 't was yer idea ta come here, so there you go."

The blonde twin followed reluctantly and had quite some trouble fitting through the hole since he was taller and a bit more muscular than his younger half.

"Yeah, you sure don't try ta get us fuckin killed, might as well ring a fuckin bell to let them know we're here. Wanna smash some more windows while yer at it?"

Murphy raised an eyebrow and went back to help his brother.

"Fuck you" he murmured and grabbed Connor's hand to pull.

The older MacManus ripped a hole in his pea coat during the process and cursed even more.

"Now that I think about it, should just let you here, being stuck like that. Nice way t'cover up the hole and keep the walkers out" Murphy grunted and Connor looked up.

"Oh fuck you."

They managed to get the blonde twin through the hole and adjusted their clothes on the other side of the door. They were now standing in the giant entrance hall of Prudential center, with big windows and revolving doors to their right and a staircase and two escalators as well as countless plants to their left.

Murphy looked up to eye the giant glass dome. He could see the stars and the sky, as well as the dark silhouette of the Prudential building. There were no lights on in every single skyscraper he saw, which made the whole thing even more grotesque and scary. Boston was pretty much dark now. Except for a few lights. Connor inspected the hole in the door once more and scratched the back of his head absently.

"We'll have t'find something to cover it up."

Murphy looked back down at his brother, who was kneeling next to the door.   
Both twins scanned the hall for something, and when Connor saw all the plants and flower pots he got an idea.

"See that big ass palm over there? Let's just move it in front of it."

He pointed at a 13 feet high palm on the other side of the hall, which was standing right next to the very end of the display windows.  Murphy raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously?"

Connor got up and walked towards it.  
  
"Aye, of course I'm fucking serious. You think placing something small and lightweight in front of it will give us the protection we need, dumbass?  It's yer fault after all!"

The younger twin rolled his eyes and followed his brother to help him with the plant. Moving it was more problematic than they had thought. The palm was so heavy that they could hardly move it to the other side of the hall, and since they were so exhausted because of all the running and hiding they nearly gave it up half way through. After a couple of minutes and countless curses they managed to place the plant in front of the hole they had made, and although they were completely out of breath and needed to sit down for a moment Connor was quite content with the end result.

The paranoia was seriously getting them by now. The windows and free sight was driving them insane, and they found themselves looking outside every couple of minutes, whenever they believed to see something move in the corner of their eye. There still weren't any walkers outside and they still couldn't hear anything or anyone inside the shopping center, but that wouldn't stop them from being overly cautious and careful. They were slowly catching breath again, and after looking up at the stars for a bit Murphy looked back at his brother.

"So what's the plan now? We're in, and?"

Connor looked up at the unmoving escalators and stairs.

"We go up there, check the other exits and doors, and once we've made sure that the place is somewhat secure we find a small shop and crash there. 's gonna take a while, considering how big this place is. We're gonna be exhausted. As soon as we're done you can get a couple of hours of sleep, I keep watch."

Murphy raised an eyebrow.

"Take turns?"

Connor nodded and got up.

"Can't risk sleeping here without making sure the place stays safe."

He offered his twin a hand.

"Aye" Murphy said and together they headed for the stairs.

Prudential center was a two storey shopping hall which consisted of five arcades, five courts, six parking garages and over 70 retailers and restaurants. What was so very characteristic about the mall were its many glass domes and roofs as well as its direct access to skyscrapers like the Prudential Tower, Hynes convention center, 101 and 111 Huntington Avenue.

As soon as the twins reached the very top of the stairs they had to realize how big the complex really was. They were now facing over 300 yards of arcades and shops in front of them, with trees , benches and market stalls blocking their view. It was hard to make out any walkers or unexpected visitors this way, and Murphy came to the conclusion that it was impossible to make sure the place was safe.

"We should go" he said quietly and Connor turned his head to look at his twin with a frown.

"What? You stupid? This place is perfect."

"This place is a fucking _death trap_!" Murphy hissed, but his brother ignored him and started walking.

"Connor!"

The blonde twin kept ignoring him and checked the first door, the entrance to the first shop to their right which happened to be Barnes&Noble. The door was locked, and Connor checked all the other entrances and windows just to be safe. He got out his flashlight and tried to see if anyone or anything was trapped inside, but there was nothing apart from books, dvds, cds and toys.

"Clear" he whispered and went over to the next shop.

Murphy just stood there at the top of the stairs and watched his brother. He couldn't believe that Connor was really thinking that this was a _good_ idea. He could see a path to his left, one of the many arcades that made its way around South Garden, a plaza right in the center of the whole complex. Once again he could see the Prudential right in front of him. A dark, abandoned reminder of what their society had used to be. Dependent on jobs and offices and paper work.

Murphy decided that it was useless to keep arguing with his brother, since it looked like Connor had made up his mind anyway. The younger twin started walking and kept an eye on the left side of the arcade, where all the windows where facing the park. It didn't surprise him that the doors were also locked, and part of him wondered if the outbreak had happened late at night over here, when business hours had been over and the whole place had been locked down over night.

It was strange to see it so tidy and polished to a high finish, considering how much blood, death and guts they had seen out there, back in Fenway and at the interstate. It almost seemed like they were back to normality, like someone had just forgotten them and locked them up in this place. Maybe had just been dreaming the whole time? Maybe someone had really locked them up in here. Maybe he was sleeping right now, while they were waiting for the next morning and people to get them out of here.

He looked at his reflection again and figured that this couldn't possibly be a dream. There was just too much blood and dirt everywhere. Everything was true. Everything was fucked up and dangerous. The younger twin sighed and turned around to see where his brother was, only to see that he was alone all of the sudden. He stopped walking and scanned the arcade, but his twin was nowhere to be found.

"Connor?" he shouted and waited for an answer, but no answer would come.

"Connor!"

His twin answered just a split second later and in a way Murphy hadn't expected him to respond.  
He could hear a loud and surprised scream coming from the inside of one of the small shops right next to the entrance to 111 Huntington.

"Connor!" Murphy yelled once more and started running.


	16. Tabby

* * *

Murphy could still hear someone screaming inside the shop. He crashed through the door to the small fashion store in sheer panic, fearing that a walker had managed to bite his brother. He knew that the screaming was way too high-pitched for a grown man but that wouldn't stop him. When he entered he saw Connor right in the middle of the fashion store, staring and shouting at someone who was standing next to the counter.

The dark-haired twin approached his brother to get a better look at what was going on, and once he was standing next to Connor he saw who was causing so much trouble. There was a little girl hiding behind the counter, staring at them with wide eyes and screaming as loud as she could. She was about eight years old and had long brown pigtails.

"Just calm down! We're not gonna hurt you! We're not like them either!"

Connor shouted and tried to calm her down, but as soon as he tried to get closer she started throwing things from the counter at them.

"Jesus fuckin christ, make her stop!" the older twin shouted and fought socks and underwear, which the little girl was throwing right in his face.

Murphy eyed her head to toe. She was wearing a pair of blue jeans, a maroon sweater and a white jacket. The girl didn't look like she had come in direct contact with any of the infected, since her clothes were clean and there was no blood. He turned around to search the store for anyone else. The younger twin could see a bunch of clothes just behind the counter and there were all sorts of candy wrappers and other waste lying around.

It looked like someone had used the place as some sort of hideout, and judging by the absence of any other bags and luggage apart from a small hello kitty bag it looked like the girl had been all by herself until now. Connor was still cursing and fighting whatever the girl decided to throw at him, and soon all the yelling and screaming was starting to annoy Murphy.

"Connor shut the fuck up!" he shouted and his twin looked at him in surprise.

"What? Ow! Jesus!" the blonde cursed when a shoe hit his head.

Murphy put his arms up in the air where the girl could see them and approached her slowly. He just looked at her, and while she was still busy screaming at Connor and fighting him she also seemed to get interested in the other twin. She backed off slowly and widened her eyes when the black-haired twin got closer, but instead of yelling and cursing Murphy decided to take it slow and stay calm.

"Look, we ain't gonna hurt ye, but if yer gonna keep screaming like this the others might come as well. And _they_ sure as hell wanna hurt you.  
So how about you stop yer screaming now? Where's yer ma?"

The girl froze and frowned.

"Oh thank god" Connor murmured and got rid of a sock which was lying on his shoulder.

The girl glared at him and threw another shoe at the older twin, but Connor managed to catch it.   
She eyed the twins for a moment and stopped screaming.

"You're talking funny" she croaked, her voice hoarse from all the screaming.   
  
Murphy chuckled and let his hands drop.

"Aye, you could say that. 'm Murphy, and the other one ye don't seem t'be too fond of's me brother Connor."

The girl shifted and started playing with her hands nervously.

"Brother?"

Murphy nodded and looked at Connor.

"Aye" he said and turned his head again.

"I've got a little brother, too" she murmured and the dark-haired MacManus raised an eyebrow.

"Is that so? Where's he then? He with ye?"

The girl turned her head to look at the place where she had been sleeping for the past couple of days.

"He was sick and Mommy said she would take him to the doctor. I'm supposed to wait here and look after our shop."

She turned her head again, grabbed another pair of socks and glared at Connor.

"She told me not to let any strangers in."

"Oh come on, we already told you, we're not gonna hurt you, kid! We'd never.."

"Well, we just told you our names. We're not strangers, we're Murphy and Connor. But we don't know who you are" Murphy interrupted his twin and smiled at the girl.

"Ye know what?"

He put both his hands on his machete and took it to place it on the ground. Then he showed the girl his two guns, which made her gasp and take one of the many heavy folders from under the desk to throw it, but Murphy placed both his guns on the ground next to his machete and stepped away.

"Just like we said. We promise we ain't gonna hurt ye. We just wanna talk, okay?"

Murphy leered at his brother who frowned.   
  
"Put yer shit down, Connor" he hissed and his brother snorted.

"What? No fucking way?"

The girl glared at the older twin and raised the file to signalize that she was going to throw it. Murphy saw her silent threat and tried not to laugh.

"Come on yah retard, we can't fuckin mess with this girl, she's too tough, man"

Connor glared at the girl and they spent a good minute trying to stare each other down.

"All right, jesus" he finally gave in and put his weapons down as well.

"Guess yer right, she's _way_ too tough" he murmured and Murphy nodded.   
  
He looked back at the girl who was obviously fighting a triumphant smirk.

"Okay now?" the younger MacManus asked and the girl frowned.   
  
She was looking at Connor again, who seemed seriously pissed by now.

"He must wait outside Mommy's shop."

"Are you f.."

"Okay. He's gonna wait in front of the door and keep an eye out" Murphy said and turned around to look at Connor. His twin glared at him with an angry frown.

"Yer not seriously telling me that I'm supposed ta wait out there with no fucking weapons. Seriously Murph, now's not the time t' give in to the kid's silly demands. I mean I get it, she's scared and everything, but we gotta focus now."

"Just do it. Have a cig. She obviously doesn't like yah. Can't blame her."

"Oh fuck you" Connor growled and headed for the door.   
  
He took the machete with him nevertheless and leaned against the door frame.  
The blonde twin lit a smoke and exhaled loudly.

"You gonna tell me yer name now?" Murphy asked when he turned around to look at the girl again.   
  
She was still looking at Connor but put the file back.

"Tabetha"

Murphy raised an eyebrow.

"That's an unusual name, Tabetha."

She nodded.

"I don't like it. Everyone calls me Tabby."

"Okay then, Tabby. Have you really been all by yerself here til now?"

The girl nodded and stared at her makeshift bed.

"Yes. Mommy left three nights ago" she said quietly and sighed.

Murphy didn't know what to say. He eyed the girl, saw all the candy wrappers and clothes, the hello kitty bag.

"Wow, fuck" he murmured and turned around to look at his brother.   
  
Connor was staring out of the window on the other side of the arcade, the one that was facing South Garden.   
When he looked back Tabby was staring right at him.

"I think I know your faces. You were on tv once."

Murphy rolled his eyes.

"Oh jesus..nah, I don't think so. We've just got those...faces. So yer ma went ta see some doctor you say? Did she say any name, any place?"

The little girl shook her head.

"No, she just told me to wait for her to come back."

Murphy bit his lip and shook his head. Whoever the woman had been, she sure as hell had been crazy to leave the kid here like this. All on herself, without any food or any real protection. They still had no idea what had happened on this side of the barricades, when the outbreak had really hit Boston, and most importantly, where everyone was, but it dawned on him that things had taken a very bad turn.   
  
He felt it in his guts that there was something wrong. He put his hand on his mouth and rubbed it absently. He had no idea what they were supposed to do with the kid now. Of course, there was no way they could just leave her here. It was obvious that her mother wasn't going to come back, considering all the chaos and destruction they had seen out there, but how where they supposed to look after her? They had been around kids every once in a while, and they loved them, but they had no idea how to actually _care_ for a kid.

"Let me just...talk. Talk to my brother fer a second, okay? Don't run off or anything."

Tabby nodded and turned around to sit down on her makeshift bed.  
Murphy looked over his shoulder once more just to make sure that she was staying, then he stepped outside to stand next to his brother.

"She throw any shoes at ye as well?" Connor asked and snorted.

"Gave me a fuckin heart attack in there, man. I nearly shot a fuckin kid. I thought she was a walker."

Murphy snatched the cigarette from his brother's mouth and took a drag.

"Well, she ain't. Trouble is, she's been in there fer three fuckin days, Connor. All on her own."

His twin shifted and looked at him.

"Seriously?"

Murphy nodded and gave him the cigarette back.

"Aye. Her mother ran off. We can be pretty fuckin sure she's dead. I mean she'd have come back here otherwise, don't ye think? Name's Tabetha by the way."

"Tabetha? Who'd name their kid Tabetha?"

"Obviously some crazy chick who leaves her kid alone in a fuckin shopping center during the apocalypse."

Connor snorted and turned around to look at the girl. She was sitting next to the counter and searched her hello kitty bag. It was ridiculous to see a kid in this. After everything they had seen today. After everything they had been through.

"Aye, apocalypse sure is the right thing ta call this shit" the blonde murmured and looked to his right to see if there was anyone, any walker roaming through the large center court. He couldn't see anything. They were still on their own.

"What should we do 'bout her?" the dark-haired twin asked.

Connor blew out some smoke and dropped his cigarette to put it out.

"She say anything about her mother? Where she went? Maybe te terminal?"

Murphy shook his head and watched Tabby.

"No, just said she left with her brother, tryin t'get to some doctor. Kid doesn't know shit man. Fuck."

"Well, we obviously can't just leave her" the older MacManus said and looked at her as well.

The dark-haired twin nodded and folded his arms.

"Aye. I was thinking the same."

Connor frowned and took a deep breath.

"But..it's a fuckin kid man. How are we sapposed to look after a kid? I mean even before shit went down we weren't exactly father material."

Murphy snickered.

"Aye"

The older twin patted his brother's shoulder and started walking.

"And I thought this couldn't get any worse."

* * *

Connor knew that they would be a lot faster if only they could split up. But it was impossible. There was no way he would let his brother wander about alone now that there could be walkers lurking behind every corner. Another problem was Tabby. It was impossible to keep an eye on the girl and check the shopping center for any threats at the same time. She still wouldn't talk to him and he couldn't really blame her. The older MacManus was sure that he had really scared the living daylights out of the girl when he had entered the fashion store like this, with guns drawn, a machete in his hand and bloodstained clothes.

Back at the T-station he had had the chance to take a look at his reflection in the window, and he knew he looked terrible. The smell wasn't exactly any more inviting either. They had almost reached the very end of Back Bay Arcade and Connor wondered how there could possibly be so many fashion stores. They all looked the same, they all offered the same overpriced clothes. He started shaking and kicking another door only to find it closed, and when he turned around to see how his brother was doing on the other side he nearly bumped into Tabby, who was standing right in front of him.

"Jesus" Connor gasped and stopped walking to look at her with a frown. "Found something little girl?"

She shook her head and kept staring at him. Connor sighed and nodded. He nudged her and turned around to keep walking. He didn't know why he was feeling weird around her. He had always loved kids, but all her screaming and panicking had made him keep his distance from her. There was something about her that made him feel uncomfortable. Maybe her eyes, because it felt like they were piercing right through him, or maybe it was the sheer paradox of seeing something so innocent after everything they had been through today.

"Alright then, keep yer eyes open" he murmured and turned his head to look at his brother.

Murphy was doing the exact same thing on the other side, looking inside shops, shaking and kicking doors and windows to make sure they were locked.

"Are your guns real?" Tabetha asked and followed the older MacManus to the next door.

Connor started shaking it again, but it was locked just like any other door he had come across during the last 30 minutes.   
The Irishman looked down on himself where he had put his Berettas in his leg holsters and nodded.

"Well of course they're real, aren't they."

"Can I touch them?"

The blonde looked up and raised an eyebrow.  
  
"' _They are real_ ' pretty much answers the question, don't ye think little girl?"

He reached the entrance to Saks Fifth Avenue, the largest fashion store located at the far East corner of Prudential Center. Connor tried to see if anything was moving in there, but the store was so large and filled with clothes and other luxury goods that it was impossible to tell if it contained any unwanted guests or not. He cursed and shook the doors.

"Fuck" he murmured and shielded his eyes to get a better view.

"You're swearing a lot" the little girl next to him noticed and Connor startled.  
  
He had been so caught up with checking the store that he had forgotten about her standing right next to him.

"Aye, sorry about that, little girl. Don't think you can do that now just cos we're doing it. 'm sure yer Ma'd kill us. So, I can do that, you can't, comprendre?"

Tabby folded her arms and glared at him.

"You're not my dad. And I'm not a little girl either. I'm nine. That's almost ten."

Connor looked at her in surprise and tried not to laugh. He couldn't hide an amused smirk.

"Okay, what am I supposed to call ye then?"

"How about you call me by my name? Your big brother is doing it."

The blonde twin started laughing which made Murphy turn around and look at them.  
  
 _Of course he had told her that he was the older one._

"Well look at that Murph, we got ourselves a little princess with some serious attitude, she could be yers" Connor announced and his brother snorted.  
  
The dark-haired twin turned around again to check the last but one door on his side.

"Am I allowed ta call you by yer name then? Considering how you reacted ta me back at yer store? I thought I wasn't allowed ta talk to you."

Tabby eyed him head to toe for a good minute and relaxed her arms.

"It's okay. You can call me Tabby" she said and offered him her hand.  
  
Connor looked at it and snickered. When the Irishman took her hand and shook it the girl started grinning.

"Nice meeting ye, Tabby. You can call me Connor, or uncle Connor..or.."

"Okay, I'm sorry, you're not bad, bye" she responded as fast as lightning, let go of his hand and ran back to the other side where his brother was standing.

Murphy was busy shaking the big double door that separated the complex from Copley Bridge, a glass overpass that connected Prudential Center with Copley Place.  
Connor smirked and watched his younger half and the girl for a moment.

"I did it. He really isn't scary" he heard Tabetha say and snorted. He saw Murphy looking at the girl and nudging her shoulder.

"See? Told yah" his younger half responded and resumed his work.

Connor shook his head and laughed gently. He let go of the door handle and went over to the next store, which happened to be a dvd shop. He wasn't surprised to find it locked. Maybe they were lucky. Maybe all the doors were locked. Maybe Prudential Center had closed its doors just before the original outbreak, which meant that there could be no walkers in this building. It really looked like they were actually lucky for once.  
  
Connor felt his optimism growing. At first he had been even more worried when they had found Tabby, simply because he had been scared of the possible responsiblity and danger. Looking after himself and Murphy was one thing, but a kid? He approached the next shop which brought him closer to his brother and the little girl, and as he looked at her he also felt hope. She meant hope and life, which was exactly what they needed now. Maybe she was a sign from god, to let them know that there was still a chance, that everything was going to be okay.

"Ah shit, Connor!" he heard Murphy say and turned around in surprise. His brother and Tabetha were standing in front of a door which seemed to lead outside and back on the street. He noticed that Murphy was resting his hand on the door handle, and when he pushed it down the door opened with a creak.

"This door's open. And there's blood on the ground."


	17. Blood Trail

Murphy opened the door slowly and carefully. He could see a blood trail leading out of the building.  
Connor and Tabetha were right behind him, and the girl made it very clear that she didn't like it at all.

"I wanna go back inside and wait in Mommy's shop, please" she begged, her voice shaking with fear.

The twins had positioned her right between them, with Murphy up front and Connor right behind her. As soon as they exited Prudential center she glanced around in fear. The older MacManus placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her down and push her forward at the same time. The trio made their way to the end of the terrace of the california pizza kitchen.

"Can we please go back in? I'm scared, what about the monsters?" Tabby asked again and stopped walking to look at Connor.

Murphy, who was still busy following the trail and keeping an eye out for walkers, didn't notice that they had stopped, so he kept walking. The blonde MacManus looked at the kid in front of him and back at his brother. Murphy was making his way down the stairs and to an abandoned Mercedes car which was parked on the sidewalk with one of its doors open. Connor looked back at Tabetha and knelt down to be at eye level with her.

"Look, I know yer scared, Murph and me, we're scared, too. But you gotta be brave, okay? Everything's gonna be fine, but you gotta be quiet. Can you do that fer me?"

Tabby nodded but didn't seem any less scared. Connor sighed and put both his hands on her shoulders.

"God's watchin over us, so ye don't have ta be scared. We're gonna protect you. "

She started chewing on her upper lip and stared at the older twin.

"You mean like guardian angels?"

Connor snickered.

"Aye, you can say that if ye want."

"Mommy said that angels are watching over me and Dan."

"Dan? Is that yer little brother?"

Th girl nodded and the blonde MacManus smiled.

"Aye, of course. Well she's right."

He got back up and put his hands in the pockets of his pea coat. He was used to playing with his pennies in there when he was nervous, and when he grabbed a view coins his fingers touched something else. For a second he was confused and took the object to get it out of his pocket. He raised an eyebrow when he saw that it was the necklace from the walker from the stadium. The small silver cross. Connor just looked at it for a moment and Tabetha watched him curiously. The older MacManus looked back at her.

"You know what.."

He knelt back down and showed her the necklace.

"Take that. Lucky charm. It'll protect you."

He made sure that there was no more blood on the chain and cross, then he put it around the girl's neck.

"Means god's watching over ye" he added and smiled at her.

"Now, ye gotta be brave, aye?"

Tabby took the cross in her hand and glanced at it. She twirled the chain around her little fingers experimentally and smiled happily.

"I'll try."

Connor smirked and ruffled her hair.

"Now there's a good girl"

Tabetha frowned and looked at him.

"I'm not a dog."

The older MacManus raised an eyebrow and wanted to say something but froze when his brother called.

"Connor" he heard Murphy whisper and got up to see where his twin was. The black-haired MacManus was standing by the car downstairs, with a hand placed on its open door. He nodded towards the abandoned vehicle to signal them to come down the stairs as well. Connor looked at Tabetha again, who was still examining her new necklace.

"Come on, let's go"

* * *

They were half way down the stairs when Tabetha stopped walking again. Connor didn't notice at first. He walked over to his brother to get a better look at the car.

"Well, what's the matter with this one?"

He could see even more blood inside, covering the expensive white leather driver seat, steering wheel and window.

"Wow, are ye tellin me that walkers are able ta drive cars now?"

Connor got back up and glanced over the roof to scan the surrounding area for walkers or anyone else. When he looked back down to the ground he noticed the blood trail again. Connor turned around to see where it led and swallowed hard when he realized that it was the same trail they had found _inside_ Prudential Center.

He finally noticed Tabetha, who was still standing on the stairs and stared at the car with wide eyes. The twins looked at each other and without saying a single word the younger knew that it was his job to act and take care of her. Murphy sighed and started walking back to the girl, whereas Connor leaned down to search the car for any clues.

"What's the matter?" Murphy asked and eyed Tabetha, but she wouldn't stop staring at the car.  
  
She was still clinging to the necklace Connor had just given her.

"Ye don't have ta be scared, there's no one in there, we're all alone here fer now" the younger MacManus tried to reassure her and turned around to look at his brother, who had walked around the car and sat down on the bloody driver seat. He didn't really know how to handle scared kids. He liked Tabetha, but right now her fear and vulnerability annoyed him.

"That's my Mommy's car" Murphy heard Tabby say and widened his eyes in surprise.

* * *

"Fuck" Connor murmured and eyed the little girl who was sitting on the stairs opposite them. The MacManus twins were leaning against the black Mercedes and watched her. The young girl was staring down to her feet where the blood trail was just a couple of inches away from her white shoes.

"Ye sure that's her car? You got any idea how many people fuckin own a black Mercedes in Boston? Could be anybody's" the blonde murmured and Murphy snorted. He looked up at the sky where he could see the dark silhouette of the Prudential tower and 101 Huntington. It was dark by now, and it was strange to see the towers and city without any lights on.

"She recognized the fuckin stuffed animal in the backseat. Said it's her brother's. The kid can't make shit up like this."

Connor noticed the blood to their feet again.

"So what, her mother never made it to the terminal? Maybe the other kid was bit, maybe it's his blood and.."

"She said her brother wasn't bleedin and could still walk when her mother left with 'im."

"Where the fuck is she then? Maybe she came back, could explain the blood trail, maybe she got bit but managed t'escape, went back here, got inside there with her keys or something and now she's stumblin around in there as a walker? We didn't exactly get the chance to search the whole fuckin complex, we could've missed her"

Murphy folded his arms and shrugged.

"Could be" he murmured and Connor sighed.

"Well, ye know what that means."

His younger half turned is head to look at him with a frown.

"What?"

"If she really is in there, then we gotta find her and kill her. We still gotta make sure this place's safe fer the night. Besides, if she really got in there with her keys, then she might still have 'em. If we're lucky she could still carry the car keys for this one here" Connor concluded and patted the car.

"Meaning we could use it ta get to Black Falcon tomorrow morning"

Murphy snorted and glared at his brother. Connor saw the strange expression on his twin's face and frowned.

"What?"

His younger half shook his head and looked at Tabetha again.

"Nothin"

Connor snorted.

"Yeah of course, yer bitch face means 'nothin'. You fuckin know ye can't keep shit fram me."

Murphy narrowed his eyes and glared at his brother.

"It's her fuckin mother Connor. Just look at te kid, she's fuckin devastated, and yer talkin about killing her mother without showing any sort of pity or emotion. Didn't take ye long ta adjust to this shit then, did it?"

The older MacManus folded his arms and narrowed his eyes as well.

"So what am I sapposed ta do, huh? Let her keep walkin around in there and threatening our lives just cos she's her mother? 'm just trying ta get us outta here alive. There's no fuckin time fer pity now. You really think that thing wouldn't sink her teeth in the little girl's throat as soon as she sees her? Whoever she was, she's long since gone, thinking that she's still her mother's just fuckin stupid."

"Well, maybe ye just gotta believe. Force it into reality" Murphy growled and Connor glared at him.

He snorted and got up.

"Jesus. I don't need this shit right now"

He closed the car door and made his way back to Tabby. The girl was still staring at her feet with her arms crossed.

"Come on, let's get back inside" he murmured and waited for her to get up. It took her a while to react.

"It's mommy's blood, isn't it?" she asked and looked up to face Connor. The Irishman could see countless emotions in her eyes. Fear, confusion, sadness. He knew the truth. Of course. It was in his guts. He knew that her mother was dead. It was the only reasonable explanation for the car and all the blood, the open door. Who else could've had the keys to the car and the shop, knowing that they belonged to a door at Prudential Center? It _had_ to be her mother.

"We don't know, Tabby. Maybe it's someone else. Maybe they stole yer mother's car. We just gotta stay positive. Maybe yer ma got to the terminal with yer brother and sent someone back ta get ye"

It wasn't the first time he was lying to someone and once again he could almost feel the tattoo on his finger. Judging him. _Veritas, the truth. Liar._ He hated to lie, but right now it was the only option to keep the girl calm and protect their lives. He didn't need a hysterical crying little girl right now. Emotional children were hard to control. And no matter how old his brother was, he had learned that from his twin. How hard it was to control Murphy when he had another emotional outburst like a child.

"Really?" Tabetha asked and snapped him out of his thoughts. Connor sighed and nodded.

"Aye. We just have ta get back in there and find them."

She looked at Murphy who had caught up with them and stood right next to his brother.

"Really?" she asked again and waited for the younger MacManus to answer.

Murphy turned his head to look at his twin. Connor eyed him warningly. _Don't fuck this up now._ The  dark haired twin sighed and nodded. "Aye" he murmured without really meaning it. Right now he was just tired. Back in the old days he would've given Connor shit, got into a fight to let go off his anger, but right now he was so tired that nothing really mattered anymore. He followed his brother and Tabetha back up the stairs and inside Prudential center.

* * *

They needed their flashlights by now. There were a couple of emergency night lights, but it wasn't enough to actually see what was going on inside the shops and dark corners of the shopping center. They walked past all the shops they had previously checked, and after five minutes of walking Tabetha noticed another blood trail again.

She grabbed the hem of Murphy's pea coat and pulled to get his attention. The younger MacManus turned his head to look at her. The little girl pointed at the small blood droplets on the floor and Murphy nodded. "Aye, good work" he murmured and looked up to see where his brother was. Connor was on the other side of the arcade and searched the ground and walls with his flashlight.

"Connor!" Murphy shouted and made his twin look up. The blonde MacManus nodded and made his way to the other side.

"What is it?"

"Tabby found another blood trail."

Connor pointed his flashlight at the trail and nodded.

"Well, let's see where it leads, shall we?"

They followed the trail until they reached another corridor that lead to 101 Huntington and another entrance to Barnes&Noble. There were no lights in this corner of the center, so all they had were their flashlights. Connor decided to go first and have the lead whereas Murphy and Tabetha stayed right behind him. The girl clung to the younger MacManus to a point where he could hardly walk, so he stopped walking for a moment to look at her.

"Tabby, jesus, I can't f.. I can't walk with ye clinging to me leg like that. You gotta get a hold of yerself now."

"But I'm scared"

"Shut up you two, I'm hearing some shit over here!" Connor whisper-shouted and both his twin and Tabetha looked at him. The older MacManus pointed at a door that led to the men's restroom. Murphy sighed angrily and took Tabby's hands to get them off his leg. The little girl pouted and folded her arms in protest. When the dark haired brother started walking again she stayed right where she was. Murphy approached his brother who was leaning against the door to hear what was inside.

"What is it?"

"I don't know, I think it sounds like a walker, I heard some banging just a sec ago" Connor murmured and grabbed his machete.

Tabetha just stood there and watched the two men. She could hear the banging, too. The girl startled and turned her head in surprise when she realized that the banging was coming from the room right next to her. She looked at the MacManus twins, who were fighting over who was supposed to open the door they were standing next to.

"I..I think it's coming from over here" she said quietly and with shaking voice, but neither of them would really listen to her.

"Yeah, I know yer scared, everything's gonna be fine, Tabby" Connor answered and his twin just nodded without looking at her.

"Aye, we're here."

Tabetha frowned angrily and spoke a little louder this time.

"I said it's coming from over here!"

Once again the twins ignored her because they were really shouting at each other by now.

"Why is it always me who's gotta do that shit? Who made you boss, you fuckin asshole!" Murphy yelled and shoved his brother, who shoved him back.

Tabetha frowned even more and got angry herself. She hated how the two men ignored her just because she was a little girl. She approached the door slowly and put the hand on the door handle. She could still hear the banging inside, so maybe if she just opened the door then she would get some attention. Tabetha opened the door with shaky hands and pushed it open. For a couple of seconds nothing really happened. It took her eyes a while to adjust to the darkness. Tabetha blinked a few times and gasped when she saw a silhouette moving through the shadows. The girl turned her head to look at the twins who were still fighting.

"I...uhm.."

She turned her head again to look inside the dark room to her right.

"H...hello?"

The shadow stopped moving and it looked like it was staring right at her. A second later she could her a low growl. Tabetha narrowed her eyes to get a better look.  
She gasped once more when the figure came closer.

"Mommy?"

"No! You look after the girl!" Murphy shouted and glared at his brother.   
  
Connor rolled his eyes and growled.

"She fucking told you that she thinks 'm fuckin scary and she obviously likes you more than me. I mean she keeps running after ye and someone's gotta look after her! I go in there and take care of whatever's fuckin in there, you bet's her mother, and as soon as I'm done we gotta check the rest of the.."

A loud and piercing shriek interrupted Connor mid sentence. Both twins turned their head in horror to see what was going on. There was a female walker who was grabbing Tabetha by her arms and tried to bite her. She was wearing a pair of black jeans and white blouse which was soaked with blood. Tabby started screaming again and looked at the creature in sheer terror.

"Mommy, you're hurting me, please stop! Murphy, help me!" she screamed and looked at the twins with wide eyes.  
Her mother, who was now a walker, tried to bite her neck and wrestled her to the ground.

"Tabby!" Connor shouted and both twins ran to help her.

Murphy grabbed the girl by her shoulders and tried to get her away from the walker whereas Connor grabbed the woman from behind to pull her back.

"Take her away fram here!" the blonde MacManus yelled and glared at his twin, who had finally managed to free the little girl from her mother's tight grip.  
The older brother was wrestling with the walker and managed to shove her away, further back into the dark hallway.

"No! Mommy!" Tabetha screamed and fought Murphy's grip. She was trying to run back to her mother, and the dark haired MacManus had quite some trouble keeping her in place.

"I said take her away!" Connor spat and shoved the walker once more when it tried to attack him again.

"'m fuckin tryin!" Murphy answered and lifted Tabby up to carry her away. The girl was still kicking and screaming and fighting his grip. Connor just looked at the growling and drooling woman in front of him. She had a superficial bite wound on her neck and a nasty bullet wound to her right shoulder. The walker tried to get hold of him again, but the Irishman just moved out of her way. He could still hear Tabetha crying and shouting for her mother. The woman growled and snarled at him.

"Look, 'm sorry this happened to you" he murmured and tried not to get angry again.

Tabby screamed for her mother once more.

"We'll look after her. I promise."

The older MacManus sighed and reached for his gun.

"I wish there was a fuckin easier way fer her, but looks like I got no other choice. You'd just kill her."

He pointed his gun at the woman's head and took a deep breath.

"Tabby! No!" he heard Murphy shout and pulled the trigger a second later. Tabby's mother was knocked off her feet and fell to the ground, leaving another bloody trail on the wall next to her. Connor took a deep breath and tried to keep calm, which was quite hard to achieve. He had lost count of how many people he'd had to kill today. Friends. People that mattered. It had been necessary, but it was still so frustrating. He put his gun away and searched his pockets for a couple of pennies.

If they kept going like this they'd be out of pennies by tomorrow night. He shook his head angrily and turned around to see where his brother and Tabby were. The Irishman froze when he saw that the girl was standing right behind him, with her eyes widened in shock. Murphy was standing next to her, panting and out of breath.

When Connor saw the look on Tabby's face he knew that the kid had just witnessed her mother's death. How he had shot her parent in the head. The blonde MacManus widened his eyes and looked at his brother. Murphy swallowed hard when he saw the girl and her mother's bloody corpse.

"I fuckin tried to keep her away, but she just fought me off with all her kicking and screaming and started running.." the younger twin tried to explain.

Tabetha started running again and fell to her knees right next to her mother's body. Connor just stared at the shaking and sobbing child to his feet, completely petrified and numb. He had shot countless people in his life, but never had he done it in front of a kid. Someone so _innocent_. He moved his hand through his hair and tried to stay calm, but he just ended up cursing.

"Jesus fucking Christ, will it ever fucking _stop_?!" he yelled and started to walk up and down the hallway.

Tabby was still sobbing and crying for her mother. It wasn't exactly helping his own break down, so he tried to calm the girl down. Just to calm himself down.  
He knelt down next to her and put a hand on her back.

"Look, 'm sorry Tabby. I really.."

"Don't touch me!" she yelled and glared at him. Right now all the fear and innocence was gone, there was just hatred and grief. He was horrified to see something like this crossing a face like hers. He hated to see that this new world wasn't only fucking with them, but also with someone who was just a kid. He startled when Murphy put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. He knew what it meant. _It's okay. Let me handle this._

Connor growled and got up to leave and turn his back on the crying kid and the woman he had just shot. He needed a break. A break from this new world, this new self. He simply could not understand why it was so hard for him to adjust to all this, why after being in charge and being calm for over 30 years it had to be _him_ who lost his head and not his brother. Murphy, who had always been the  hothead.

Connor kept walking for a bit to keep his distance from them, to watch them and leave them to their thoughts. It was funny to see Murphy like this, so calm and grown up. He didn't know how his twin could be like this all of the sudden, but he thanked god for it. Because he had no idea how much longer he could actually keep it together. The older brother knew only one thing for sure: they needed to get away from all this. As soon as possible.


End file.
